Harry Stiteler was the football coach at Texas A&M for three seasons from 1948-1950. He had a 31-8 record including a win over Georgia in the Presidential Cup post-season game.

Why was he fired? The books and official histories gloss right over him.

What I recall is that he was on his way to a public dinner in Houston late 1950 or early 1951 and got into a fight with somebody in route. The next day he had a meeting with some university official and was fired soon after for lying to the official about the nature of the altercation.

Anybody here know what actually happened?

I had no clue who that guy was before you posted, but now I am curious as well

Road rage in the 50's?

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He had a 31-8 record

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Huh? His record was nowhere near that good. In the three years he was at the helm, the Ags went 0-9-1 ('48), 1-8-1 ('49), and 7-4 ('50) for a total record of 8-21-2.

The only thing I could find online about his departure from A&M was on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Stiteler#Texas_A.26M)

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In December 1950, Stiteler reported that he had been attacked and beaten by a stranger near the Shamrock Hotel in Houston, where Stiteler had been scheduled to address a group of Texas A&M alumni.[12] Stiteler tried to downplay the incident, but the press reported Stiteler declined to provide details to the police and that there were conflicting versions as to what had happened. The San Antonio Light reported the incident under a banner headline, "MYSTERY SHROUDS STITELER BEATING."[13] In March 1951, Stiteler admitted that he had misrepresented the facts concerning the assault. He reported that he had known his attacker and "the affair was a personal one."[12] Stiteler submitted his letter of resignation to the President of Texas A&M upon revealing the true facts concerning "my affair in Houston."[12] Following the resignation, the members of the football team issued a statement in support of their former coach:

"We believe that whatever happened to Mr. Stiteler was a personal matter and it should have remained that. A lot of us boys came to A. and M. in 1948 not because A. and M. had won games but simply because of Harry Stiteler and his character. He has never ceased to set us that same example in the years we have played and worked for him."[14]

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Yeah, I got the won-loss record wrong, sorry.

If I remember right, Stiteler coached at Corpus Christi High before coming to A&M.

I sure would like to know what really happened.

State champions at Waco and Corpus.

wha...? he had a wining record and THEN we fired him?

Aggies will not accept mediocrity!!!1!

31-8.....8-21-2.....what is the difference?

My late father ('49) always told me that Steitler got fired because he was banging one of the player's wives and got confronted by said player in front of the Shamrock Hotel when the team was down to play Rice at the end of the '50 season. Player's name is not important but he was a starter. A bit of team dissension happened and A&M lost their last 2 games to both Rice and Texas to finish 6-4. Pretty good team, with Bob Smith as HB, Yale Lary (NFL HOF), Glenn Lippman, et al.

Not keeping it in your pants is not just a recent phenomenon. Been around for a bit.

My dad...class of 50 confirms WBBQ74's post.

8-21-2 is 8 wins in 31 games...that's the best I can do as to how that got misinterpreted to 31-8.

Never knew anything much about him, either, until this thread.

No, but I found a pic of Stiteler's mom!

Well, I have heard that Stiteler was having an affair but not with a player's wife.

If you notice, the confrontation at the hotel was in December at an alumni gathering. A&M's game with Rice was in College Station on November 18 of that year. So it could not have been part of the Rice game.

Maybe my deceased father's memory was a bit faulty but the coach WAS doing the Monica and the player DID beat the crap outa him at the Shamrock Hotel in Houston. If it was December and after the season's end, then it was. That he 'resigned' after the best winning record season A&M had had since 1941 is a fact.

Most of that team returned in '51 and greatly underachieved (5-3-2) under Ray George. But they beat t.u. at Kyle 22-21 as the sips missed a 30 yard FG at the end of the game for the first win over the Horns since 1939.

A&M was 2-8 vs Texas from 1950 to 1959. Same as we were from 2000-2009. School was different, results same.