Harvey R. Holmes

Who was Harvey R. Holmes?

Harvey Robson Holmes was an American football player and coach of football, baseball, and track. He served as the head football coach the University of Utah, the University of Southern California, and the Academy of Idaho—now Idaho State University, compiling a career college football record of 60–22–4. Holmes was the head baseball coach at Utah from 1901 to 1904 and at USC in 1908, tallying a career college baseball mark of 21–11. In addition, he served as the head track coach at USC from 1905 to 1908.

Holmes was born in Geneva, Minnesota. He attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he lettered in football in 1897 and 1898.

Holmes became head football coach at the University of Utah in 1900, and led the team to a record of 16–9–1; he was the first Utah coach to coach for multiple seasons. But his most enduring contribution at Utah may have been his composition of the lyrics to the school song "Utah Man."

In 1904 Holmes became the first salaried head coach of the USC football team, and he compiled a 19–5–3 record over four seasons. USC's teams were called the Methodists before becoming the Trojans in 1912.