Curley Byrd Harry Clifton " Curley " Byrd ( February 12 , 1889 – October 2 , 1970 ) was an American university administrator , educator , athlete , coach , and politician . Byrd began a long association with the University of Maryland as an undergraduate in 1905 , and eventually rose to the position of university president from 1936 to 1954 . In the interim , he had also served as the university ' s athletic director and head coach for the football and baseball teams . Byrd amassed a 119 – 82 – 15 record in football from 1911 to 1934 and 88 – 73 – 4 record in baseball from 1913 to 1923 . Byrd Stadium , the university ' s current football field , and its predecessor were both named in his honor . In graduate school at Georgetown University , he became one of football ' s early users of the newly legalized forward pass , and he had a brief baseball career including one season as pitcher for the San Francisco Seals . Byrd resigned as university president in order to enter politics in 1954 . He ran an unsuccessful campaign as the Democratic candidate for Maryland Governor against Theodore McKeldin . Byrd later received appointments to state offices with responsibilities in the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay . In the 1960s , he made unsuccessful bids for seats in each chamber of the United States Congress . Byrd was a proponent of a " separate but equal " status of racial segregation in his roles as both university administrator and political candidate . Early life . Harry Clifton Byrd was born on February 12 , 1889 , in Crisfield , Maryland . He was one of six children of oysterman and county commissioner William Franklin Byrd and his wife Sallie May Byrd . In his youth , Byrd worked in the Chesapeake Bay fishing industry , where he saved most of his money to finance his college education . He attended Crisfield High School , where he excelled on the baseball diamond , and was also known as his hometown ' s first recreational jogger . A later source described how he appeared in 1905 : " He was tall , and as the saying goes , built like a whip . He had a startlingly handsome face , with big , flashing eyes , a splotch of florid red on each cheek , and a mane of black curly hair . . . He looked like Rupert of Hentzau , and had all of that worthy ' s cold , sinister resolution about everything that he did . " College career . In 1905 , Byrd graduated from Crisfield High School and enrolled at the Maryland Agricultural College , which is now known as the University of Maryland . Byrd was a star college athlete and participated in varsity football , baseball , and track . He served as the football team captain in 1907 , as the pitcher on the baseball team , and set a school record 10 . 0 - second 100 - yard dash in track . Before leaving Crisfield , Byrd ' s father warned him not to " try to play that thing called football . " He ignored the advice and reported for football practice where head coach Fred K . Nielsen told the undersized Byrd to " play with the kids " and that " football ' s a man ' s game . " He was allowed , however , to fill in as an end on the scout team due to a shortage of players . After sitting out the first three games , Nielsen sent Byrd in as a substitute against , and his play was impressive enough to earn a position on the first team . After the elder Byrd read of his son ' s newfound stardom in the newspaper , he wrote , " Since you ' re going to play football , I ' m glad to see you ' re doing it well . " During the summers and on weekends , Byrd supplemented his income by continuing work as a fisherman . He graduated second in his class with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering in 1908 . After graduation from Maryland , Byrd spent the next three years doing graduate work in law and journalism at George Washington University , Georgetown University , and Western Maryland College ( now known as McDaniel College ) . In a time before eligibility limitations , he played football at George Washington and Georgetown and ran track at Western Maryland . At Georgetown in 1909 , he was called the first quarterback in the East to master the forward pass , several years before Gus Dorais of Notre Dame did so in 1913 . According to " The Georgetown Hoyas : A Story of A Rambunctious Football Team " , Dorais ' s " end - over - end ' discus ' throw was an exact copy " of Byrd ' s passing technique , and the Irish " got the headlines because they had a press agent and Georgetown didn ' t . " Byrd also played for Maryland - based semi - professional baseball teams while pursuing his graduate studies . In 1910 , the Chicago White Sox signed Byrd , but he was soon traded to the San Francisco Seals , a semi - professional Pacific Coast League baseball team with whom he pitched in 1912 . He returned to Maryland later that year , and in 1913 , married Katherine Dunlop Turnbull . Before they divorced twenty years later , the couple had three sons and a daughter : Harry , Sterling , William , and Evelyn . Coaching career . In 1911 , injuries claimed enough Maryland Agricultural football players that the team could no longer field a practice squad to scrimmage against . The college turned to Byrd , who was serving as coach at Western High School in Georgetown , and he was willing to help his alma mater with scrimmages . Byrd later replaced head coach Charley Donnelly , who resigned mid - season after accumulating a 2 – 4 – 2 record . Byrd led the Aggies to wins in both of their final games of the season , against Western Maryland , 6 – 0 , and Gallaudet , 6 – 2 . In 1913 , the Maryland Agricultural College hired Byrd as an instructor in English and history , and he was named the head coach of the track and baseball team s , the latter of which he coached through 1923 . According to author David Ungrady in " Tales from the Maryland Terrapins " , the university initially offered Byrd $ 300 to coach football , but he demanded $ 1 , 200 . The two parties came to agree upon that salary for all of his coaching and teaching duties which spanned nine months of the year . Byrd also worked as a sportswriter for " The Washington Star " , a job he held until 1932 . As football coach , he developed a unique offensive scheme called the " Byrd system " , which combined elements of the single - wing and double - wing formation s . One of Byrd ' s track and football players , Geary Eppley , said , " He never yelled in practice or at a game . . . He pointed out mistakes and explained what you did wrong . He took a calm approach . The strongest thing he ' d say was ' for cripes sake . ' " In 1915 , his duties were expanded to include those of athletic director . That same year , he requested funds for the construction of the campus ' s first dedicated football stadium , which was named in his honor . During his tenure as head football coach from , he compiled a 119 – 82 – 15 record . Administrative career . Byrd was appointed to the post of assistant university president in 1918 . He became a proponent of unification of the Maryland Agricultural College and the Baltimore professional schools into a single public University of Maryland , and he was instrumental in what became the Consolidation Act of 1920 . Byrd named the student newspaper " The Diamondback " in 1921 , and in 1933 , he was the lead advocate for the adoption of the diamondback terrapin as the university ' s official nickname and mascot . In 1932 , Byrd was promoted to vice president of the university . In July 1935 , he was named the acting president of the university , and was officially appointed to the presidency in February 1936 . During his tenure , the budget , facilities , faculty , and enrollment increased significantly . The school budget was increased and the campus expanded largely due to Byrd ' s deft political maneuvering in Annapolis and Washington . The school also saw a large growth in enrollment , due in part to returning veterans making use of the G . I . Bill after World War II . From 1945 to 1948 , the university budget increased from $ 4 . 8 million to $ 9 . 8 million . Between 1935 and 1954 , student enrollment grew from 3 , 400 to 16 , 000 . Over that same time period , the value of the campus rose from $ 5 million to $ 65 million . Byrd , however stood fast on faculty salaries . He reportedly said , " Ph . D . s are a dime a dozen . " For years , Byrd refused to release the university ' s financial records to state legislators , and how exactly he secured funding for many of his projects was largely a mystery . According to booster Jack Heise , Byrd financed a new basketball arena through the out - of - state tuition , paid by the federal government , for Maryland high school graduates who attended the university on the G . I . Bill . The General Accounting Office calculated that the extra fees totaled more than $ 2 million , but determined that they were within the bounds of legality . Byrd was a staunch supporter of a " separate but equal " state university system . The Princess Anne campus provided agricultural education and Morgan State College provided liberal arts education for the state ' s black students , while the University of Maryland remained open only to white students . In 1951 , Governor Theodore McKeldin criticized the University of Maryland as an example of wasteful state spending , and was especially critical of expansions to the Princess Anne campus , which was geographically disconnected from the state ' s black population and not attracting many students to study agriculture . Contractors had begun projects at the college before approval from the public works board , which was described as a usual practice under Byrd . Byrd acceded to McKeldin and secured approval from the board for both the Princess Anne expansions as well as a sizable increase to the university budget . In 1945 , Byrd hired 32 - year old Paul " Bear " Bryant to his first head coaching post . Bryant led the Terrapins to a 6 – 2 – 1 record , but the two personalities clashed . The tensions came to a head when Byrd reinstated a player Bryant had suspended for violating team rules . Bryant resigned as head coach an hour later , which caused an uproar among students until he interceded to restore order . Two years later , Byrd hired Jim Tatum as football coach . The year prior at Oklahoma , Tatum fielded a winning team , but the athletic department ran up a huge deficit and some players were paid in violation of conference rules , which resulted in university president George Cross firing athletic director Jap Haskell . The media blamed Tatum for his termination . Tatum told Cross to refute Tatum ' s role in the matter , and threatened to reveal the Oklahoma team had been paid $ 6 , 000 after the 1947 Gator Bowl . Cross asked Byrd to persuade Tatum not to go public , and according to author Gary King in " An Autumn Remembered " , Byrd replied , " Persuade , hell ! I ' ll tell him to keep his damn mouth shut ! " Tatum remained as coach at Maryland from 1947 to 1955 , and amassed a 73 – 15 – 4 record . In 1948 , the National Collegiate Athletic Association passed a set of regulations called the Purity Code , later renamed the Sanity Code , which permitted student - athletes free tuition and meals , but required that part - time jobs be legitimate and their pay commensurate with the work . Schools found to be in violation could be expelled from the NCAA . In 1950 , seven schools , called the " Sinful Seven " — Virginia , Maryland , VMI , Virginia Tech , The Citadel , Boston College , and Villanova — admitted they were in violation of the code . " Time " magazine asserted violators were far more widespread than those seven that had confessed . Maryland was the only Sinful Seven school that was also a major football power with eighty scholarship players , and Byrd led them in their stand against the Sanity Code . University of Virginia president Colgate Darden called the code hypocritical , and The Citadel ' s leadership refused to " lie to stay in the association " and requested termination of its NCAA membership . At the convention to decide Virginia ' s fate , Byrd said , " Does Ohio State want to vote for expulsion of Virginia , when Ohio State has facilities to take care of four or five as many athletes as Virginia ? " The ensuing vote fell 25 short of the needed two - thirds majority to expel the Sinful Seven . In 1951 , the football team ' s 10 – 0 season culminated in a 28 – 13 victory over first - ranked Tennessee in the 1952 Sugar Bowl . Maryland ' s participation , however , was in violation of a Southern Conference resolution passed mid - season that banned participation in postseason bowl game s . Byrd had Maryland accept the bowl invitation , despite Tatum ' s objections . The coach thought the threatened sanctions , which prevented Maryland from playing any Southern Conference games the following season , would severely disadvantage his team . In 1952 , Maryland and Clemson , which had also violated the bowl game ban , were sanctioned , and the incident hastened the break - up of the Southern Conference and formation of the Atlantic Coast Conference , of which both schools were founding members . Opponents in " The Baltimore Sun " alleged that Byrd emphasized athletics over academics and belittled him as the only college football coach to rise to the position of university president . Among the campus expansions , Byrd was responsible for the construction of Byrd Stadium in 1950 and Cole Field House in 1955 , which at the time was the largest basketball arena in the Southern Conference . Critics alleged that both facilities were constructed at the expense of campus libraries . Byrd also built the University of Maryland Golf Course in 1959 . Byrd resigned from the post in 1953 and his tenure ended effectively on December 31 . Political career . Byrd resigned from the presidency in January 1954 to embark upon an unsuccessful campaign as the Democratic candidate against the Republican incumbent McKeldin for the state governorship . Byrd campaigned on his stance of separate but equal . McKeldin won comfortable majorities in Baltimore ' s black , Jewish , and upper - middle class white districts , while Byrd took all of the blue - collar white South and East Baltimore neighborhoods , including McKeldin ' s boyhood home along Eutaw Street . Elsewhere in the state , however , middle - class white voters did not support Byrd . Byrd also made unsuccessful bids for the Democratic nominations to the U . S . Senate in 1964 and the U . S . Congress in 1966 . Despite his lack of success in campaigning , Byrd did receive several gubernatorial appointments : Chairman of the Maryland Tidewater Fisheries Commission , Maryland Commissioner to the Potomac River Fisheries Commission , and Chairman of the Commission on Chesapeake Bay Affairs . In 1959 , Governor J . Millard Tawes appointed Byrd as commissioner of tidewater fisheries . When a fisheries officer killed a Virginian waterman illegally dredging , Byrd disarmed the force . The action was credited with helping to end the long - standing Potomac River Oyster Wars . Following the example of other oyster - producing states , Byrd authorized fossil shell mining to produce culch , crushed shells used to form oyster bed s . Byrd ignored Tawes ' warning to " stay away from private planting " by promoting the formation of leasing cooperatives , but his plan failed due to opposition in the Maryland General Assembly . Business career . Byrd was also active in business and civic organizations . In 1951 , he was involved in the merger that formed the Suburban Trust Company , which in 1960 was the largest bank in Maryland outside of Baltimore City . He later served as the company ' s vice president . Byrd also did business in real estate and construction . Byrd was active with service organizations . In 1962 , he became a member of the Loyal Order of the Moose . Byrd organized the College Park Rotary Club and served as its first president . Byrd was a member of the Defense Orientation Conference Association ( DOCA ) , an organization which educates civilians on the Defense Department ' s programs and policies . Death . Byrd died of a heart condition on October 2 , 1970 at the University of Maryland Hospital in Baltimore , Maryland . He is interred at Asbury United Methodist Church Cemetery in Crisfield , Maryland , and his epitaph reads : " Harry Clifton ' Curley ' Byrd , Educator – Statesman – Conservationist , President Emeritus , Father and Builder of the Greater Consolidated University of Maryland , Founded 1920 . " Byrd was inducted into the University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982 .