Dave Morey David Beale Morey ( February 25 , 1889 – January 4 , 1986 ) was an American football and baseball player , coach of a number of sports , and college athletics administrator . He was an All - American football player for Dartmouth College in 1912 and a professional baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1913 . Morey coached football and baseball at the Lowell Technological Institute ( 1916 – 1917 , 1948 – 1959 ) , Middlebury College ( 1921 – 1924 ) , Auburn University ( 1925 – 1927 ) , Fordham University ( 1928 ) , and Bates College ( 1929 – 1939 ) . After leading small colleges to ties against college football powers Harvard and Yale , Morey was given the nickname , " David the Giant Killer " by Grantland Rice . Biography . Early years . Morey was a native of Malden , Massachusetts . He played baseball and football , and also competed on the track team , at Malden High School . In June 1909 , Morey struck out 25 batters in a baseball game against Everett High School . Dartmouth College . Morey attended Dartmouth College where he played for three years each with the school ' s football and baseball teams . He was captain of Dartmouth ' s baseball team during his senior year in 1913 . Morey played right halfback for Dartmouth ' s football team from 1910 to 1912 . After the 1912 season , he was selected as a first - team All - American by W . J . MacBeth and a second - team All - American by Walter Camp . Professional baseball player . Morey graduated from Dartmouth in 1913 and was signed by Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics . He was a right - handed pitcher and a left - handed batter . He played in two games for the Athletics on July 4 , 1913 and July 17 , 1913 . He did not have any decisions and compiled an earned run average of 4 . 50 . Morey also played minor league baseball for Worcester in 1914 and Manchester in 1915 . Football and baseball coach . In the fall of 1914 , Morey returned to Dartmouth as the school ' s freshman football coach , working as an assistant to Frank " Major " Cavanaugh . He also worked for the American Felt Company in Boston . He also served briefly as the baseball coach for Boston University . From 1916 to 1917 , Morey was the football coach at Lowell Textile Institute , later renamed Lowell Technological Institute . Following the entry of the United States into World War I , Morey served in the United States armed forces . In 1919 , Morey returned to Malden High School as the school ' s baseball coach . Middlebury College . In July 1920 , Morey was hired by Middlebury College in Middlebury , Vermont as assistant to the school ' s athletic director . Morey was given the responsibility for developing the school ' s football team . In 1921 , Morey took over as the school ' s head football coach . Over the next four years , Morey helped turn the program around , improving from a record of 2 – 6 in 1922 to 7 – 1 in 1924 . The most notable win during Morey ' s tenure at Middlebury was a 6 – 6 tie with Harvard in 1923 , then one of the top football programs in the country . Two drop kicks by Middlebury ' s Al Klevenow provided the scoring in the tie with Harvard . Morey took particular pride in the tie against Harvard , noting that Middlebury had a total male enrollment of 140 at the time . In 1924 , Morey ' s Middlebury eleven outscored its opponents 254 – 44 , won high - scoring honors among all of the Eastern football teams , and lost only one game — to Harvard . Morey was also the coach of Middlebury ' s baseball and basketball teams from 1921 to 1925 . In February 1925 , Morey announced his resignation as coach at Middlebury , effective at the end of the baseball season in June 1925 . He stated that his one and only reason for leaving Middlebury was the ill health of his wife , which could only be remedied by residence in a warmer client . Auburn University . In September 1925 , Morey was hired as the head football coach at Auburn University in Alabama . Morey was the head coach at Auburn for three years ( 1925 – 1927 ) , compiling an overall record of 10 – 10 – 1 at the school . The highlight of Morey ' s tenure with Auburn was a 2 – 0 win over Bernie Bierman ' s Tulane squad in the game that dedicated New Orleans ' famous Sugar Bowl . In 1927 , Morey ' s Auburn football team lost its starting quarterback , who was expelled after being caught sneaking into the women ' s dormitory following a night of drunken reverie . The team opened the 1927 season with an 0 – 3 record , including embarrassing losses to Stetson College and Clemson . At a pep rally six days after the loss to Clemson , Morey announced his resignation . Fordham University and NYU . After leaving Auburn , Morey returned north and accepted a position as an assistant football coach at Fordham University working under Major Cavanaguh — who had previously been Morey ' s head coach at Dartmouth . He also undertook graduate work in physical education at New York University , where he also taught classes in athletic coaching . Bates College . In January 1929 , Morey was hired by Bates College in Lewiston , Maine as the head coach of its football , baseball and ice hockey teams . In 1932 , sports writer Grantland Rice gave Morey the nickname " David the Giant Killer " after his Bates College football team played a highly touted Yale team to a scoreless tie . Morey remained at Bates until 1939 . In ten years at Bates , his football teams compiled a record of 28 – 33 – 9 . In June 1939 , Morey unxpectedly resigned his position at Bates . He left his decision unexplained other than a public statement that , " There ' s no place at Bates for me now . " Following the announcement , students at Bates circulated a petition urging the college to reinstate Morey . During World War II , Morey served as an instructor at the U . S . Naval Air Station at Martha ' s Vineyard . From 1944 to 1948 , Morey was the head coach at Marblehead High School . Lowell Technical Institute . In August 1948 , Morey accepted an offer to return to Lowell Technological Institute , where he had been a coach from 1916 to 1917 while the school was called Lowell Textile School . He was appointed in 1948 to the physical education department at Lowell and served as an assistant coach in three sports , including football . He served as football coach at Lowell until the school abandoned the sport in 1950 . He also coached Lowell teams in basketball ( 1948 – 1959 ) , soccer ( 1951 – 1958 ) , and lacrosse ( for five years ) . In March 1959 , Morey announced his retirement from Lowell at age 70 . Later years . In 1959 , Morey accepted a position teaching history at Curry College in Milton , Massachusetts . He also helped with coaching the Curry football team in 1959 . In October 1963 , the Hartford , Connecticut chapter of the College Football Hall of Fame nominated Morey for induction into the national College Football Hall of Fame . However , he did not receive a sufficient percentage of the total votes cast for induction . In November 1964 , Morey was honored by the Gridiron Club with a dinner in his honor in Boston . Morey lived in his later years in Oak Bluffs , Massachusetts on Martha ' s Vineyard . He died there in 1986 at age 96 .