McLaughry Resigns Suddenly; Dick Harlow Will Replace Him

DeOrmond (Tuss) McLaughry resigned as head coach of Dartmouth football this morning. He has been temporarily replaced by Richard Cresson Harlow.

Ill health and not the lack of Dartmouth football success this year forced McLaughry's resignation, William, H. McCarter, director of Athletics, said this morning.

Harlow, who for 13 years coached at Harvard, will lead the Big Green in Harvard Stadium today.

The official announcement was made just before 10 a.m. by Mr. McCarter in Cambridge. It was probably the quickest and most unexpected change in coaches of a major college football team in the history of the sport.

McLaughry was still coach yesterday afternoon when he directed Dartmouth's light scrimmage in the Harvard stadium. There was no hint to the public that he would not be coach today.

Just before 10 a.m. this morning, Mr. McCarter issued the following 36-word statement:

"Mr. McLaughry has voluntarily submitted his resignation as head coach of Dartmouth football, and it has been accepted. Mr. Richard Harlow will replace him as coach on a temporary basis, effective with today's game with Harvard."

Mr. McCarter emphasized that ill-health had been the reason behind McLaughry's resignation. He revealed that last week against Lehigh, and the week before at Philadelphia, McLaughry had complained about his health. He warned Dartmouth officials that the state of his health and nerves might not permit him to finish out the season.

Mr. Harlow has been standing by for two weeks in readiness for this emergency, THE DARTMOUTH was told this morning, and he arrived in Cambridge yesterday with the team. He has studied the movies and reports of last year's and this year's games, and he has discussed individual players and plays with Coach McLaughry.

Mr. Harlow coached Harvard football for 13 seasons, but he has not done any coaching at all since he resigned on January 9, 1948 on doctors' orders. Harlow's health has improved, subsequently, and last year it was reported that he had been offering his services as a scout to several teams that were going to play Harvard, notably Brown and Columbia.

Very Popular Coach

THE DARTMOUTH this morning could not discover why Harlow and not line coach John Deli Isola had been picked to take over from McLaughry. Dell Isola would have been a natural selection to fill in, but it was believed that Harlow received the rod because of his "greater experience."

Coach McLaughry had been at Dartmouth for seven and a half years and was extremely popular during that time. He came to Hanover from Brown to succeed Earl Blaik, who moved over to West Point as coach in 1941.