Tommy Prothro (July 20, 1920 - May 14, 1995) was an American football coach at both the collegiate and professional levels for more than 30 years.

Prothro, a native of Memphis, Tennessee, was the son of major league baseball player and manager Doc Prothro, who played for three teams between 1920 and 1926, then managed the Philadelphia Phillies from 1939-1941. His uncle, Clifton Cates, was commandant of the United States Marine Corps.

College career

The younger Prothro found his niche in football, starting out as a quarterback for Wallace Wade's Duke Blue Devils. In 1941, Prothro's versatility on the field helped him win the Jacobs award as the best blocker in the Southern Conference as the Blue Devils reached the Rose Bowl. During his time at the school, Prothro also competed in baseball and lacrosse, and graduated from the school in 1942 with a degree in political science.

Prothro was drafted in the fifth round of the 1942 NFL Draft by the New York Giants, but rejected the opportunity in favor of a budding coaching career and a brief attempt at professional baseball.

Assistant coach and military service

Prothro spent that fall serving as an assistant coach at Western Kentucky University, then entered the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant to fight in World War II, where he served for 39 months.

Upon leaving the service, Prothro served as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt University from 1946-1948, working as freshman coach during the first year. He then was brought along by the team's head coach, Red Sanders, when the latter was hired as head coach at UCLA. Over the next six years, Prothro used the single-wing formation as the team's backfield coach, helping the Bruins to an undefeated season and national championship in 1954.

College head coaching career

Oregon State

That success translated into his hiring as head coach at Oregon State College on February 1, 1955. The Beavers had won just one of nine games the previous season, but Prothro improved that mark by five games in his first season, then helped the team reach the Rose Bowl the following year. He would serve another eight years, making another Rose Bowl appearance in 1965 (1964 season) while compiling a 63-37-2 record for the decade, suffering only one losing season. The 1962 Beavers won a 6-0 decision over Villanova University in the Liberty Bowl, and was led by quarterback Terry Baker, who went on to win the Heisman Trophy.

UCLA

On January 11, 1965, he was hired as head coach at UCLA, spending the next six years compiling a 41-18-3 record. During the first year, the Bruins dropped an early-season 13-3 decision to the Michigan State Spartans, but rebounded to reach the Rose Bowl, where they defeated those same heavily-favored Spartans by a 14-12 score. That final victory game gave UCLA an 8-2-1 mark and prevented the Spartans from winning the national championship, results that ended in Prothro earning Coach of the Year accolades from his coaching brethren.

Two years later, he once again helped a quarterback capture the Heisman when Gary Beban was awarded the trophy after the regular season. He would bring his #1 ranked UCLA Bruin team to face USC in one of the "Games of the century". UCLA would lose to USC on a spectacular run by O.J. Simpson. That campaign would be one of three in which the Bruins finished second in the Pacific-8 Conference.

In 1970, his final season, Prothro's team was only 6-5, but upset their arch-rivals, the University of Southern California, and narrowly lost to the eventual national champion Texas Longhorns.

NFL head coaching career

Los Angeles Rams

On January 2, 1971, Prothro accepted a new challenge when he was hired as head coach of the Los Angeles Rams. After two seasons in which he compiled a 14-12-2 record and failed to reach the playoffs, Prothro was dismissed on January 24, 1973, in favor of Chuck Knox. After the firing, player complaints followed that Prothro failed to motivate his teams.

Six weeks after his departure, Prothro filed a $1.9 million lawsuit against the Rams, alleging new Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom breached his contract by dismissing him "without cause". However, on May 23, 1973, the two sides settled out of court, with Prothro being paid $225,000 to cover the final three years of his contract. For the next eight months, Prothro remained out of the game, actively pursuing investment strategies, as well as his main hobby, competitive bridge.

San Diego Chargers

The San Diego Chargers then hired Prothro as their new head coach on January 8, 1974, and also put him in charge of rebuilding the once-proud franchise that had become mired in a drug scandal. During his first two years, the team continued to struggle, bottoming out with a 2-12 mark in 1975, but that same year, Prothro drafted a number of players who would have a major impact on the franchise, including defensive linemen Gary "Big Hands" Johnson, Louie Kelcher and Fred Dean.

During each of the next two years, the Chargers showed considerable improvement, and seemed ready to make their move during the 1978 NFL season. However, a 1-3 start, marked by a loss to the Raiders in what became known as the Holy Roller game of September 10, caused Prothro to abruptly resign as head coach in favor of Don Coryell.

NFL front office

After less than five months away from the game, Prothro once again returned on February 14, 1979, this time as Player Personnel Director of the Cleveland Browns. During his three years with the team, he was responsible for drafting future Pro Bowl players Cody Risien and Hanford Dixon. However, after he departed, he was blamed for making a trade during his first draft in which he passed up the chance to draft future Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow, and instead selected wide receiver Willis Adams and offensive lineman Sam Claphan.

Retirement

Prothro would not return to football in any official capacity for the remainder of his life, but was honored for his career efforts by selection to the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 1985, the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1989, and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1991. He died in 1995 after a three-year battle with cancer.

Preceded by Kip Taylor	Oregon State Beavers Head Coaches 1955–1964	Succeeded by Dee Andros
Preceded by Bill Barnes	UCLA Bruins Head Coaches 1965–1970	Succeeded by Pepper Rodgers
Preceded by George Allen	Los Angeles Rams Head Coaches 1971–1972	Succeeded by Chuck Knox
Preceded by Ron Waller	San Diego Chargers Head Coaches 1974–1978	Succeeded by Don Coryell

•  • [ e] Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers Head Coaches
Gillman • C. Waller • Svare • R. Waller • Prothro • Coryell • Saunders • Henning • Ross • Gilbride • Jones • Riley • Schottenheimer • Turner

•  • [ e] Cleveland/Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams Head Coaches
Bezdek • Lewis • Clark • Donelli • Walsh • Snyder • Shaughnessy • Stydahar • Pool • Gillman • Waterfield • Svare • Allen • Prothro • Knox • Malavasi • Robinson • Knox • Brooks • Vermeil • Martz • Vitt • Linehan