Babe Hollingbery
Orin Ercel "Babe" Hollingbery was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at the State College of Washington—now known as Washington State University—for 17 seasons, from 1926 to 1942, and compiled a record of 93–53–14. Hollingbery's 93 wins are the most by any head coach in the history of the Washington State Cougars football program. He was inducted into the College [Football Hall of Fame] in 1979.
Early years
Born in Hollister, California, Hollingbery was raised in San Francisco and never attended college. He coached local high school football, even leading three teams one fall, and later coached at the Olympic Club. One of his players at Olympic was Buck Bailey, who became his line coach at Washington State in 1926 and headed the Cougar baseball program until 1961.Washington State
Hollingbery coached at Washington State during what is generally agreed as its greatest football era. The Cougars did not lose a home game from 1926 to 1935, and the 1930 [Washington State Cougars football team|1930 team] won the Pacific Coast Conference title and advanced to the Rose Bowl against 1930 [Alabama Crimson Tide football team|Alabama]. He coached some of the greatest names in Washington State history, including Turk Edwards, Mel Hein, Mel Dressel, Dale Gentry, Ed Goddard, Harold Ahlskog, Elmer Schwartz, Bob Kennedy, Nick Suseoff, Bill Sewell, John Bley, and Herbert "Butch" Meeker.Before the 1943 season, the football program went on hiatus due to World War II; Hollingbery trained U.S. Army troops on campus and coached eighth-grade football. He was also an advisory coach for the 1943 [Spokane Air Service Commandos football team].
Hollingbery took a one-year leave of absence, beginning in mid-1944, moved to Yakima, and started a lucrative hop-growing business. When the Cougar football program was restarted, Hollingberry was asked to take a pay cut and did not return to Pullman.
Hollingbery Fieldhouse at Washington State University, a facility serving many different sports, was built in 1929 and renamed for the coach in 1963; the dedication ceremony was at halftime of the Battle of the Palouse football game with Idaho on November 2. Hired after three consecutive Cougar losses to Idaho, Hollingberry never lost to the Vandals, with 16 wins and a tie.