Robert V . Whitlow Colonel Robert V . Whitlow ( November 7 , 1918 – July 11 , 1997 ) was an American military officer , football coach , university athletic director , and sports club executive . He served as the first head football coach and athletic director of the United States Air Force Academy in 1955 . Whitlow had a twenty - year career in the United States Air Force , and during World War II , saw combat as both a bomber and fighter pilot . After his military service , he worked for the Chicago Cubs baseball franchise as its first " athletic director . " Early life and education . Whitlow was born in Calwa , California on November 7 , 1918 to Victor and Elizabeth ( née Drenth ) Whitlow . He attended Fairfax High School and the University of California , Los Angeles . Whitlow then went on to the United States Military Academy , where he earned letters in football as a tackle , baseball as a pitcher , and basketball . On October 13 , 1942 , he pitched five innings as the starter against the New York Giants , and when he was removed from the game , the score was a 2 – 2 stalemate . He started again on May 27 against Navy , and helped Army to a 10 – 3 win , its first of the series since 1914 . Whitlow earned his pilot wings as a first class cadet ( senior ) , and was assigned to heavy bombers because of his large stature after graduating in January 1943 . Military service . Whitlow served in the Second World War and saw aerial combat , initially as a B - 24 Liberator pilot with the 458th Bombardment Group . He later piloted P - 51 Mustang s on reconnaissance missions with the Eighth Air Force Scouting Group . In 1944 , " The Los Angeles Times " reported on one of his aerial engagements in which he shot down a German Focke - Wulf 190 fighter . All told , he logged 550 combat hours over the course of one bomber and three fighter tours , and destroyed eight enemy aircraft . Whitlow received the Silver Star , four Distinguished Flying Cross es , and eight Air Medal s . In the late 1940s , Major Whitlow served as an assistant coach for the Army football team at the United States Military Academy . In 1947 , while assigned to the Air Staff at the Pentagon , Whitlow was selected for an officer exchange with the Mexican military academy , El Colegio Militar de Mexico . His duties there included coaching the Mexican cadets in football . Whitlow guided a Mexican team to victory against an American team from Randolph Air Force Base , which included Doc Blanchard and Arnold Tucker , in a December game he organized in Mexico City called the " Silver Bowl " . He was awarded the Mérito Militar de Mexico . Air Force Academy . In 1955 , Whitlow was appointed the head football coach and athletic director at the newly created United States Air Force Academy . He served in that role for one season , and was replaced by Lawrence " Buck " Shaw . After the 1956 Air Force football team went 6 – 2 – 1 , athletic director Whitlow turned down a bid offered for the Junior Rose Bowl . He wired the bowl organizers to inform them that the superintendent , Major General James Briggs , had " disapproved participation of [ the ] Air Force Academy football team in post - season competition " after consulting with The Pentagon . In 1957 , his three - year tour of duty ended , and he was reassigned within the Air Force . In the 1960s , he held assignments in Germany and France . Whitlow was then assigned to Air Defense Sector , Montana and qualified on the F - 101 Voodoo fighter . Later life . Whitlow retired from the U . S . Air Force in 1963 at the rank of colonel , and was appointed as " athletic director " of the Chicago Cubs baseball club . The position was created as part of the College of Coaches experiment , and outranked general manager John Holland . The unique arrangement was widely ridiculed by people associated with the franchise . One of his contributions was the installation of weight training equipment in the team ' s clubhouse , an uncommon practice at the time . Whitlow remained with the organization for two years . In the 1980s , Whitlow was the president of the " Arizona Firebirds " , a group of investors that sought to bring a National Football League expansion franchise to Phoenix . In 1984 , commenting on widespread speculation that the Philadelphia Eagles would relocate to Arizona , Whitlow said , " Until they ' re actually here , I won ' t accept it . . . I ' m really very surprised that anything is this close , especially because they don ' t have their own place to play . This doesn ' t seem very wise from the Eagles ' point of view . " Whitlow also owned the Phoenix Roadrunners minor league hockey team . Whitlow died on July 11 , 1997 at his summer home in Harbor Point , Michigan .