Robert “Bob” Harrell was an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 coach. He coached at the high school

High school football

High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....

 and collegiate level

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 in Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 and Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

.

Playing career

Harrell grew up in Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...

. When he was a teenager, his father became too ill to work and left his wife and son and moved in with his own mother in Arlington

Arlington, Texas

Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census results, the city had a population of 365,438, making it the third largest municipality in the Metroplex...

. In spite of his desperate situation, Harrell stayed focused on his promising football career, and when his coach at Polytechnic High School

Polytechnic High School (Fort Worth, Texas)

Polytechnic High School is a public high school located on the eastern side of Fort Worth, Texas.-Notable alumni:*Hugh Parmer , former mayor of Fort Worth and former member of both houses of the Texas State Legislature-External links:...

, Wes Bradshaw

Wes Bradshaw

Wesley Walker Bradshaw was an American football player and coach. He was an All-Southwest Conference back at Baylor University and was the first Southwest Conference football player to score 100 points in a single season with 119 points scored during the 1922 college football season.He earned the...

, heard about the boy's predicament, he invited Harrell to stay with him.

Bradshaw encouraged Harrell to try out for a football scholarship at Texas Christian University

Texas Christian University

Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...

 in 1934, and Harrell successfully drew the attention of Dutch Meyer

Dutch Meyer

Leo R. "Dutch" Meyer was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Texas Christian University from 1934 to 1952, compiling a record of 109–79–13. His TCU Horned Frogs football teams of 1935 and 1938 have been recognized...

. On the first day of practice at TCU, Harrell – a high school quarterback – watched Sammy Baugh

Sammy Baugh

Samuel Adrian "Slingin' Sammy" Baugh was an American football player and coach. He played college football for the Horned Frogs at Texas Christian University, where he was a two-time All-American. He then played in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins from 1937 to 1952...

 work out, and immediately chose to compete for the halfback position instead. He was a three-time letterman in 1935, 1937 and 1938.

Coaching career

Just after graduation, Harrell began his coaching career at the Central Texas town of DeLeon. However, World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 interrupted his career in 1941. Serving in the rank of a sergeant

Sergeant

Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....

, Harrell was stationed on Camp Wolters near Mineral Wells, Texas

Mineral Wells, Texas

Mineral Wells is a city in Palo Pinto and Parker counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 16,946 at the 2000 census. The city is named for mineral springs in the area, which were highly popular in the early 1900s...

, where he was in charge of sixty men.

After the war, Harrell re-started his coaching career, with stops at Odessa

Odessa High School

Odessa High School is a public high school located in Odessa, Texas and is part of the Ector County Independent School District. The full name of the school is Odessa Senior High School. This name was originally to differentiate it from Odessa Junior High School...

, Denison

Denison High School

Denison High School is a public high school in Denison, Texas, United States. It is within the Denison Independent School District.-Athletics:The Denison Yellow Jackets compete in these sports -...

, Greenville

Greenville Independent School District

Greenville Independent School District is a public school district based in Greenville, Texas .In 2009, the school district was rated "academically acceptable" by the Texas Education Agency.-High School :* Greenville High School...

, Lamesa, and Corpus Christi Miller

Roy Miller High School

Roy Miller High School is the oldest high school in Corpus Christi, Texas . It was created in 1894, and is part of the Corpus Christi Independent School District. Originally known as Corpus Christi High the school was renamed in 1950 in honor of Henry Pomeroy Miller, the former mayor Of Corpus...

. In 1953, he became head coach at San Angelo Central

Central High School (San Angelo, Texas)

Central High School is a public, co-educational secondary school in San Angelo, Texas. It is part of the San Angelo Independent School District. The school serves grades 10-12 while a freshman campus serves grade 9. Its mascot is the Bobcat...

, before leaving in 1959.

In 1961, Harrell took over at Irving. In 1962, Irving went undefeated through the season, only to lose 27-7 to Borger in the bi-district game. Harrell ended his career in 1964.

He died in 2002.