Thomas A . Barry Thomas Austin Barry ( c . 1879 – December 27 , 1947 ) was an American college football coach and player , lawyer , and industrial adviser . He served as the head coach at Tulane University , the University of Notre Dame , the University of Wisconsin , and the University of Denver . Barry attended Harvard Law School and Brown University , where he played on the football team and was named an All - American in 1902 . Early life . A native of Brockton , Massachusetts , Barry attended Brown University , where he played on the football team , and received varsity letter s in 1899 , 1900 , and 1902 . He served as the team captain in 1902 , and led Brown to its first win against , 15 – 6 , in which he scored all of his team ' s points . Barry scored on a 50 - and 31 - yard run and a 28 - yard field goal . It was the first time he had ever attempted to kick a field goal . That season , Caspar Whitney named him to his All - America first team and Walter Camp named him to his second team . He also played on the baseball team , and " The Boston Post " later wrote , " he became pioneer in the art of stealing home and not once in his college career did he fail to beat the throw to the plate . He stole home against Harvard , Dartmouth , and Yale . " Barry graduated from Brown in 1903 . He later graduated from Harvard Law School . Coaching career . After graduation from Brown , Barry coached the football team at Bowdoin College in 1903 . The following year , he played minor league baseball for Albany in the Eastern League , and coached football at Tulane . During the 1904 season , he led the Olive and Blue to a 5 – 2 record . Barry coached Notre Dame from 1906 to 1907 and amassed a 12 – 1 – 1 record . Several years earlier the Western Conference ( now the Big Ten ) had denied Notre Dame admission because of its small enrollment . In hopes it would help gain an invitation , Barry ensured Notre Dame followed the Western Conference regulations , but to no avail . In a Notre Dame alumni publication in 1931 , an article titled " Coaches Before Rockne " wrote of him : " Barry had a good system of coaching . He believed in leading his men , never in pushing them , and in giving every man a fair trial , playing no favorites . . . A proof of Barry ' s football knowledge came forward in 1907 . The material was terrible and things looked mighty gloomy . He knew his men , however . . . the team was tied for championship honors [ with ] . " Barry left Notre Dame to take over as the coach of the football and baseball teams at Wisconsin from 1908 to 1910 . In football , he amassed a 9 – 4 – 3 record . Notre Dame invited Barry back as its head coach , but he declined to pursue his career in law . In January 1911 , the University of Denver hired him as its head football and baseball coach , and Barry coached the football team to a 5 – 2 – 1 record in his only season there . Later life and legacy . In 1944 , Barry retired from practicing law and moved from Providence , Rhode Island to Hollywood , Florida , where he remained until his death . He died in his home on December 27 , 1947 at the age of 68 . Barry has been inducted into the Brown University Athletic Hall of Fame . In February 1947 , " The Boston Post " named him to the " All - Time Big Ten " of Brockton athletics , and the article ' s author wrote " Tom Barry was undoubtedly the most distinguished athlete Brockton has ever produced " . Fighting Irish football legend Knute Rockne called Barry " the man who laid the football foundation at Notre Dame . "