Robert (Bob) Ingalls (1934-1936)

Bob Ingalls played for Marblehead High School under coach Charlie McGuinness during one of Marblehead's greatest football eras. He played for three seasons. On offense he would play either end, tackle or center and on defense he was a linebacker. Ingalls was president of the MHS Class of 1937 and received the American Legion Award. 

     Ingalls was one of Marblehead's great offensive linemen in the McGuinness era, leading the way for the high scoring backs who recorded 701 points in 34 games in the three years, 1934-1936. Ingalls was also a defensive standout on a team which gave up only 186 points in the 34 games, winning 24 and tieing 4. His teams won the first three Northeastern Conference titles and played in post-season games in New York and Florida each year. 

     Elliott Roundy, who played for Marblehead High School in 1933 and 1934, says of Bob Ingalls, "You hardly noticed that he was around. He just did his job. He was a raw-boned kid, lean and lanky. You wouldn't have picked him to be the type of player he was. He was a very steady person, and dry humored." Bruce Remick, who also played with Ingalls at Marblehead, recalls, "Ingalls, though a center, called the plays. He was a good student. McGuinness wanted whoever called the plays to be a good student." 

     In the fall of 1938, after graduating from MHS, Ingalls studied at Kisi Prep School in Pennsylvania. From Kiski, he was recruited by Fritz Crisler, coach at Princeton University. However, just after the 1938 football season, Crisler accepted the head football coaching job at the University of Michigan. Consequently, Ingalls went to Mich-igan instead of Princeton. He became a teammate of Forest Evashevski and the great all-American, Tom Harmon. Ingalls became the first college player to wear contact lenses and received mention for the All American Team. He graduated from Michigan in 1942. 

     During World War II Ingalls was at the U.S. Army Air Force Base in Lincoln, Nebraska where he coached the base football team. At that time he became a close friend of George Sauer, former all-American at the University of Nebraska. After Ingalls' World War II duty ended, he became Sauer's assistant at the University of Kansas. They took the Kansas team to the Orange Bowl. Ingalls later was line coach at the U.S. Naval Academy. After three years there, he went on to the University of Connecticut where he was head coach of football for 13 years and assistant athletic director for two years. He was then named UConn athletic director, but had served only six months in that capacity when he passed away at 51 following a short illness in 1970.  (see Tom Harmon video)