Name-a-Day Calendar, December 11: BYU Cougars
Page 35 of 365
Chosen in: 1923
Chosen by: Athletic director Eugene L. Roberts
Eugene L. Roberts was BYU through and through. He was born in Provo in 1880 and enrolled in 1898 at the local Brigham Young Academy, which would become Brigham Young University before he graduated in 1904. After serving his mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, he became the head of the physical education department at BYU, where he would serve as head coach of multiple intercollegiate sports, including men’s basketball.1
Roberts stayed at BYU until 1928. In 1923, near the end of his tenure, he figured the teams he coached should have an official name, so he began calling them the Cougars and I guess nobody batted an eye. He decided on “Cougars” because the cougar is native to Utah and reminded him of his student-athletes in that it is strong, agile, quick, and beautiful.
A costumed mascot, Cosmo, would come in 1953 and is still roaming the BYU sidelines to this day.
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Though he was not an “athletic director” in title, his assumed duties at BYU were similar to those of a modern athletic director, so that’s how I’ve listed him.