James Roland Kitts (June 14, 1900 – December 13, 1952) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He served as head football coach at the University of Dallas from 1924 to 1925, Rice Institute—now known as Rice University–from 1934 to 1939, and at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI)—now known as Virginia Tech—in 1941 and from 1946 to 1947. Kitts was also the head basketball coach at Rice from 1932 to 1938, tallying a mark of 58–56, and the head baseball coach at Dallas from 1924 to 1926 amassing a record of 26–15.[1] Kitts was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1956.[2]
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Biographical details | |
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Born | (1900-06-14)June 14, 1900 Dallas County, Texas |
Died | December 13, 1952(1952-12-13) (aged 52) El Paso, Texas |
Playing career | |
Football | |
1918–1921 | SMU |
Basketball | |
1919–1922 | SMU |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
Football | |
1924–1925 | Dallas |
1926–1929 | Athens HS (TX) |
1931–1933 | Rice (freshmen) |
1934–1939 | Rice |
1941 | VPI |
1946–1947 | VPI |
Basketball | |
1923–1926 | Dallas |
1926–1929 | Athens HS (TX) |
1932–1938 | Rice |
Baseball | |
1924–1926 | Dallas |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 57–47–9 (college football) 75–73 (college basketball) 26–15 (college baseball) |
Bowls | 1–1 |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
Football 2 SWC (1934, 1937) | |
Kitts was hired as the head football coach at the University of Dallas in December 1923.[3]
From 1934 to 1939, Kitts coached at Rice, and compiled a 33–29–4 record. His 1934 team went 9–1–1, however his 1939 team went 1–9–1.
Kitts died on December 13, 1952 in El Paso, Texas.[4]
Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | AP# | |||
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Dallas Hilltoppers (Independent) (1924–1925) | |||||||||
1924 | Dallas | 4–3–1 | |||||||
1925 | Dallas | 7–2–1 | |||||||
Dallas: | 11–5–2 | ||||||||
Rice Owls (Southwest Conference) (1934–1939) | |||||||||
1934 | Rice | 9–1–1 | 5–1 | 1st | |||||
1935 | Rice | 8–3 | 3–3 | T–3rd | |||||
1936 | Rice | 5–7 | 1–5 | T–6th | |||||
1937 | Rice | 6–3–2 | 4–1–1 | 1st | W Cotton | 18 | |||
1938 | Rice | 4–6 | 3–3 | 4th | |||||
1939 | Rice | 1–9–1 | 0–5–1 | 7th | |||||
Rice: | 33–29–4 | 16–18–2 | |||||||
VPI Gobblers (Southern Conference) (1941) | |||||||||
1941 | VPI | 6–4 | 4–2 | T–5th | |||||
VPI Gobblers (Southern Conference) (1946–1947) | |||||||||
1946 | VPI | 3–4–3 | 3–3–2 | T–7th | L Sun | ||||
1947 | VPI | 4–5 | 4–3 | 8th | |||||
VPI: | 13–13–3 | 11–8–2 | |||||||
Total: | 57–47–9 | ||||||||
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
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