Dick Larkins

Who was Dick Larkins?

Richard C. "Dick" Larkins was the athletic director at the Ohio State University from 1947 to 1970. Larkins also played tackle for the Ohio State Buckeyes football team in the 1910s and served on the Ohio State faculty as a professor of physical education.

In one of his first acts as Ohio State athletic director, Larkins hired his old teammate, Wes Fesler, to take over as Ohio State's football coach. Larkins also became involved in a public feud with legendary coach Paul Brown in 1948. A story in the Minneapolis Times quoted Larkins as saying: "Brown has started a terrific drive in Columbus and all around Ohio to return as football coach at Ohio State. Brown is not happy in the pro atmosphere. He has a good bank account and wants to coach college kids again." Larkins was also quoted as saying that Brown has been "stealing football players off our campus by the dozen" and that Brown had "done everything in his power to hurt Ohio State." Brown accused Larkins of conducting a smear campaign, and Larkins claimed he had been mis-quoted.

He is also remembered as the Ohio State athletic director who made the decision to proceed with the historic Snow Bowl game against Michigan in 1950. Despite extraordinarily inclement weather, Larkins decided to play the game "due to the number of people who attended, and the mess it would have created to refund the tickets." Ohio State lost the game 9-3.