Introduction
Thomas Moran "Spook" Dowler (July 3, 1903 – December 6, 1986) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach of football and basketball. He served as the head football coach at The College of William & Mary in 1935 and at the University of Akron in 1939 and 1940, compiling a career college football record of 10–13–5. Dowler also coached the William & Mary men's basketball team from 1934 to 1937 and the Akron Zips men's basketball team in 1939–40, tallying a career college basketball mark of 30–43. Dowler played football, basketball, and baseball at Colgate University. He played with the Brooklyn Dodgers in the NFL for 2 games in 1931.
Coaching career
William & Mary had not yet joined an athletic conference during Dowler's first two seasons as head basketball coach, but for his third and final season, the Tribe had become a member of the Southern Conference. Dowler holds the dubious distinction of being the only men's basketball coach in school history to guide his team to a winless season. The Tribe went 0–13 in conference play and 0–18 overall during the 1936–37 season. Dowler went 21–29 over his three years at William & Mary. He finished his one-year stint as basketball coach at Akron with a 9–14 record.
Head coaching record
Football
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William & Mary Indians (Virginia Conference) (1935) | |||||||||
| 1935 | William & Mary | 3–4–3 | 1–1–1 | 1st | |||||
| William & Mary: | 3–4–3 | ||||||||
| Akron Zippers (Independent) (1939–1940) | |||||||||
| 1939 | Akron | 5–4 | |||||||
| 1940 | Akron | 2–5–2 | |||||||
| Akron: | 7–9–2 | ||||||||
| Total: | 10–13–5 | ||||||||