Pete Cawthon

Who was Pete Cawthon?

Peter Willis Cawthon was the head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders football team from 1930-1941.

Cawthon graduated from Houston Central High School in 1917 and went on to attend Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. He lettered in baseball, football, and basketball during his freshman year. When the baseball coach left to fight in World War I, Cawthon took over the position. Cawthon earned four letters his sophomore year and was selected as an All-State halfback.

In 1919, Cawthon took his first regular coaching job at Beaumont High School before becoming the baseball and basketball coach at Rice Institute in 1920. The following year, he moved on to coach at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, where he established the Cawthon Trophy, given annually to an outstanding individual at the school on the basis of athletic participation, leadership, and sportsmanship. His record at Austin College was 34-25-4 from 1921–27, and AC won the 1923 Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association title in 1923.

In 1930, he was hired by Texas Technological College. By 1932, the Matadors became the highest-scoring team in the nation. He coached at the school through the 1940 season.