Dave Allerdice

Dave Allerdice

David Way Allerdice (March 26, 1887 – December 31, 1941) was an American football player and coach. He played halfback at the University of Michigan for coach Fielding H. Yost from 1907 to 1909, serving as team captain and garnering a selection to the College Football All-America Team in 1909. After one year as an assistant coach to Yost in 1910, Allerdice became head coach at Butler University in his hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana, but left for the University of Texas to assume the head coaching position there after Billy Wasmund suddenly died in October 1911.

At age 25, Allerdice is still the youngest head coach in Texas football history. His Longhorns finished 5–2 in 1911, 7–1 in both the 1912 and 1913 seasons, and went unbeaten at 8–0 in 1914. In the inaugural Southwest Conference season in 1915, Texas finished 6–3 with losses to Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Notre Dame. At season's end, despite a career record of 33–7 with the Longhorns, Allerdice informed the Athletic Council of his resignation because of the "super critical nature of the Texas fans."

Allerdice was married in October 1916 to Cornelia Simrall Keasby, in Austin, Texas. He returned to Indianapolis and went into his family's meat packing business. In a draft registration card completed in June 1917, Allerdice indicated that he was working as cattle buyer in Indianapolis. At the time of the 1920 Census, Allerdice and his wife were listed as residents of Indianapolis along with their son, David W. Allerdice, Jr., age one. In 1930, Allerdice continued to be a resident of Indianapolis along with his wife, Cornelia, and sons David (age 11) and John (age 8).

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.