Dave Allerdice

Dave Allerdice

David W. Allerdice (1887 – (1941-12-31)December 31, 1941) was an American football player and coach. He was an All American halfback at the University of Michigan under coach Fielding Yost from 1907-1909. He served as team captain in 1909. After one year as assistant to Yost, Allerdice became head football coach at Butler University in his hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana. He left for Texas in 1911, after Billy Wasmund had suddenly died.

At age 25, Allerdice is still the youngest head coach in Texas football history. The Longhorns finished 5–2 in 1911, 7–1 in both the 1912 and 1913 season, and went unbeaten in 1914. In the inaugural Southwest Conference season in 1915, Texas finished 6–3 with losses to Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Notre Dame. Despite an overall record of 33–7, Allerdice informed the Athletic Council that it would be his last because of the “super critical nature of the Texas fans.” He returned to Indianapolis and went into his family’s meat packing business.

Allerdice, along with his wife and son, died from the injuries suffered in a house fire during the 1941 Christmas holiday. He was posthumously inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 1981.