# Butch Cowell

William Harold "Butch" Cowell (July 21, 1887 – August 28, 1940) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He is best known for his tenure as head coach of the New Hampshire Wildcats football team from 1915 to 1936.

## Biography

Cowell was born on July 21, 1887, in Lynn, Massachusetts. His family moved to Clyde, Kansas, where he played high school football. He later played college football at Kansas, Illinois, and Pittsburgh.
Cowell served as the head coach of the University of New Hampshire's football team from 1915 to 1936, except in 1918 when no varsity team was fielded. As a football coach, Cowell led his varsity teams to an overall record of 87 wins, 68 losses, and 23 ties, for a .553 winning percentage. In addition to coaching football, Cowell was also the head basketball coach, head baseball coach, and athletic director at New Hampshire. He was a founder of the American Football Coaches Association and served a term as the organization's president.
New Hampshire's Wildcat Stadium was named Cowell Stadium in his honor from 1952 until 2016. He was a member of the inaugural class of the Wildcat athletic Hall of Fame in 1982. He is also the "Cowell" in the name of the rivalry game with the Maine Black Bears, the Battle for the Brice-Cowell Musket.
During World War I, he served as a second lieutenant in the Yankee Division (26th Infantry Division). Cowell, who never married, died on August 28, 1940, in Dover, New Hampshire, at the age of 53 after a two-year illness. He was interred at Maple Grove Cemetery in Randolph, Maine. His brother, Roland Cowell, was also a coach and administrator in college athletics.

## Head coaching record

Note that New Hampshire did not adopt the Wildcats nickname until February 1926; before then, they were generally referred to as "the blue and white".

### Football

| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing |
| New Hampshire (Independent) (1915–1922) ||||||
| 1915 | New Hampshire | 3–6–1 | | |
| 1916 | New Hampshire | 3–5–2 | | |
| 1917 | New Hampshire | 3–2–2 | | |
| 1918 | No varsity team† | — | | |
| 1919 | New Hampshire | 7–2 | | |
| 1920 | New Hampshire | 5–2–1 | | |
| 1921 | New Hampshire | 8–1–1 | | |
| 1922 | New Hampshire | 3–5–1 | | |
| New Hampshire Wildcats (New England Conference) (1923–1936) ||||||
| 1923 | New Hampshire | 4–4–1 | 1–1–1 | T–2nd |
| 1924 | New Hampshire | 7–2 | 2–1 | 2nd |
| 1925 | New Hampshire | 4–1–2 | 2–0–1 | 1st |
| 1926 | New Hampshire | 4–4 | 2–1 | T–2nd |
| 1927 | New Hampshire | 0–7–1 | 0–3 | 4th |
| 1928 | New Hampshire | 3–2–3 | 1–1–1 | 3rd |
| 1929 | New Hampshire | 7–2 | 2–0 | 1st |
| 1930 | New Hampshire | 5–2–1 | 2–0 | 1st |
| 1931 | New Hampshire | 7–2 | 2–0 | 1st |
| 1932 | New Hampshire | 3–4–1 | 1–0–1 | 2nd |
| 1933 | New Hampshire | 3–3–1 | 1–0 | 2nd |
| 1934 | New Hampshire | 3–4–2 | 1–0 | 1st |
| 1935 | New Hampshire | 2–5–1 | 0–1 | 4th |
| 1936 | New Hampshire | 3–3–2 | 0–1 | 4th |
| New Hampshire: | New Hampshire: | 87–68–23 | 17–9–4 | |
| Total: | Total: | 87–68–23 | | |
| National championship  Conference title  Conference division title or championship game berth ||||||
† New Hampshire had an eight-game schedule planned for the 1918 season, which was abandoned due to World War I.
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