Dana M. King (1890 â April 19, 1952) was an American football and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Cincinnati from 1931 to 1934, compiling a record of 25âÂÂ10âÂÂ1.
King graduated from Ohio University in 1917. He played football for the Bobcats as an end.
King served as football coach at Hamilton High School. He coached 16 seasons (1917, 1919âÂÂ1929 and 1943âÂÂ1945), going 104âÂÂ26âÂÂ8, with his only losing season being in 1917 (3âÂÂ5âÂÂ1). From 1926 to 1929, his team went 35âÂÂ2âÂÂ1 with a 10âÂÂ0 season in 1929 in which they scored 332 points while allowing only 19. From 1928 to 1930, his team had an 18-game winning streak. His teams used single-wing and double-wing offenses for most of his career before going to a T-formation attack in his term in the 1940s. He also served time as coach for baseball, track, and basketball. For basketball, he coached from 1917 to 1929, with an 18âÂÂ0 team in 1926âÂÂ27 before losing in the District Tournament finals. He went 148âÂÂ59 as coach. In the 1920s, he served as city recreation director, along with overseeing development of the playground system in the city. He also helped establish softball leagues and coached a local American Legion football team.
King joined the University of Cincinnati as an assistant football coach in 1930. He became coach the next year, along with athletic director in 1932. In his four seasons as coach, he went 25âÂÂ10âÂÂ1, with two conference titles. He stepped down as coach in 1934, although he stayed on as athletic director until 1936.
In 1939, King became coach of the original Cincinnati Bengals. They went 6âÂÂ2 in 1939, good for second in the American Professional Football Association. They joined the American Football League in 1940. They went 1âÂÂ7 in 1940 and 1âÂÂ5âÂÂ2 in 1941 before disbanding after World War II shuttled the league and the team.
King returned to Hamilton High School in 1942 to serve as head football coach and athletic director. He left coaching after 1945 due to ill health.
After the 1946âÂÂ47 school year, he retired as a math teacher. He was inducted into the Butler County Sports and Hamilton School Athletic Halls of Fame. King died on April 19, 1952, at his home in Glenford, Ohio.