Ralph H. Young

Who was Ralph H. Young?

Ralph H. Young was an American football player, coach of football and basketball, college athletics administrator, and state legislator. He was the head football coach at DePauw University, Kalamazoo College, and Michigan Agricultural College/Michigan State College, now Michigan State University,. During his career as a head coach, he compiled record of 56–41–3, including an 18–22–1 mark at Michigan Agricultural/State. Young was also the head basketball coach at DePauw during the 1915–16 season and Kalamazoo from 1916 to 1923, tallying a career college basketball mark of 100–45. In addition, he served as Michigan State's first athletic director, from 1923 until 1954.

Young served three terms in the Michigan Legislature, representing the East Lansing district. In 1962, he was elected to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. He was elected to the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Hall of Fame in 1979 and the Kalamazoo College Hall of Fame in 1986.