Buddy Teevens Tribute

Eugene Francis "Buddy" Teevens III, a trailblazing college football coach who revolutionized the game by instituting no-tackle practices, creating the world's first robotic tackling dummy, and recruiting women to his staff, died yesterday. He left a powerful and lasting impact on the game, hundreds of players, their families and most everyone he met.

Teevens coached at several universities, including Stanford, Tulane, and Maine, but found his greatest satisfaction and success at his alma mater Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. He was a graduate of the class of 1979, where he was known for his extraordinary athleticism, endless energy, kindness, and humility.

Teevens was Ivy League Player of the Year at quarterback and a leader on the Big Green's NCAA Final Four hockey team. He went on to serve two stints as Dartmouth's head football coach, in both cases taking a program at the bottom of the league to winning five Ivy League titles. But he further distinguished himself as a guardian for his players' safety, classroom performance and overall personal growth.

Lifelong friend Chris Jenny said Teevens always took a deep interest in how his players conducted themselves on and off the field. "Players were to introduce themselves to their professors, sit in the front row, dress appropriately, mingle with others on campus," Jenny said. "I think Buddy's proudest accomplishments beyond any winning or league championships were the people who his players became."

Tim McManus was a three-time captain at wide receiver for Dartmouth until an injury kept him from playing his senior year. He recalls how Teevens kept him close, continuing to guide him and make him feel like an essential part of the team. McManus wrote this to his coach upon graduation in 2011: "I was always proud to know that I could come in to talk with you or seek your advice. You are perhaps the busiest man I know, yet you always made time for me and made me feel important." McManus went on to medical school and is now an orthopedic surgeon fellow.

Dartmouth's Haldeman Family Director of Athletics and Recreation Mike Harrity recently told The Athletic, "People will tell you that he's one of the best educators that this campus has ever seen. His classroom just happens to be the football field."

Born in Pembroke, Massachusetts in 1956, Teevens was the second oldest of nine children, all tightly tucked into a house built in 1765. His sports-obsessed siblings recall working hard and playing hard. He was known for sparking mischief, but also as a role model for his younger siblings. Brother Shaun Teevens recalls, "Buddy was our leader and set the bar for all of us as it relates to work ethic, preparation, mental and physical toughness." His sister Tara — the baby of the family — said, "Buddy always positively believed we could all do (our) best, and he sincerely wanted that. He just believed (we) could." Teevens remained a lifelong athlete who conditioned himself as hard as his players. He exercised daily, and in recent years, biked across the country from San Diego to New England.

His death came just shy of his 67th birthday (Oct. 1) and six months after he was injured while biking in St. Augustine, Florida, where he and his wife Kirsten have a second home. He also took great pleasure in spending time with his grandchildren, fishing, swimming in the ocean and wood carving — whales were a specialty. He maintained his down-to-earth nature throughout his life, known for sprinkling texts and emails with thumbs-up and smiley face emojis.👍😊

For the past 26 summers, Teevens and his wife spent two sweltering weeks in Thibodaux, Louisiana, helping to run the elite Manning Passing Academy, which he started alongside the famous family of quarterbacks. Patriarch Archie Manning called Teevens "the rock" of the program. "I would have loved to have played football for Buddy." His son, former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, posted on social media, "I have known Coach since I was 12 years old when I attended Tulane football camp. There is not a better man."

Teevens was the first college football coach to eliminate traditional tackling from practices, instead simulating tackles with a remote-controlled robotic dummy called the MVP (Mobile Virtual Player) invented at his direction by Dartmouth's engineering school. The policy reduced injuries at Dartmouth by 80 percent and has been adopted by youth programs nationwide. The MVP device is used at every level of the game, including by NFL teams. During a hearing on concussions in youth sports in 2016, Teevens told Congress, "I love football. But I love my players more."

Teevens also was a pioneer in hiring women, two of whom — Callie Brownson and Jennifer King — are currently coaching in the NFL.

"He gave me my first big chance to chase a dream I had forever," Brownson said. "He didn't think about how it would appear, or care about what people thought, he chose to do the right thing and it changed my life forever. I think he (made) those kinds of decisions every day." King added: "I would never hang up the phone without gaining some type of gem to add to my coaching toolbox."

Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a tribute to Teevens at the start of the 2023 NFL Draft, "His impact both on college football and the NFL has been enormous." The eight football teams in the Ivy League are wearing decals with Teevens' initials on their helmets this fall in tribute to his contributions.

Teevens saw diversity as a strength and worked tirelessly to recruit players of color on his teams. He reached out to classmate Lafayette Ford to create the visionary Dartmouth Football Minority Mentorship Program. "Everyone who has played with him, played for him or worked alongside him admires his genuine interest in others no matter their socioeconomic, gender, ethnic or racial background," Ford said. "As a result, he engenders loyalty and admiration from nearly everyone with whom he has encountered." Ford expects the program to continue in the wake of Teevens' death.

Buddy Teevens was known nationwide for his ties to the game of football, but to those in his orbit, he was known simply as one of the most thoughtful human beings they had ever met. He treated bus drivers as respectfully as CEOs. Tyrone Byrd was on the 1970 championship Dartmouth football team and found a kindred spirit in Teevens. He became an informal advisor on several fronts, including diversity. "I can honestly and proudly say that I have never met a more genuine, honest, self-disciplined, kinder and giving person than Coach T."

Even rivals were in awe of his graciousness. Princeton head coach Bob Surace says he will never forget when Dartmouth lost a crucial game to Princeton, and thus its shot at the 2018 Ivy League championship. Teevens went out of his way to tell Surace how proud he was to have coached against him. Buddy "always (had) the right words to say, the right thing to say, and (made) the person across from him feel so special."

Harvard's head coach Tim Murphy collided with Teevens at a little league all-star game when they were 12 years old. Teevens was the catcher and Murphy was trying to score from second. They became best friends, godfathers to each other's children, coached together and against each other. "Buddy was Superman," Murphy says. He knows no one more loyal, fun, or competitive. Murphy loves to tell the story of when he and Teevens swam so far out to sea that family members sent the Coast Guard to rescue them. Teevens refused the help, and the duo swam the mile back to shore. We were "like brothers," Murphy says, "without the complications."

Peggy Epstein Tanner, a Dartmouth classmate and close friend, said "Buddy was a mensch. He was a person of the utmost integrity, humility, dignity, with a keen sense of what was right and decent … I am pretty sure the word "NO" was not in Buddy's vocabulary." A favorite fact among Teevens' friends and players was that in the early mornings after each New Hampshire snowstorm, it was the coach who was out shoveling the "D" logo at midfield, so that it wasn't buried. Not that many people would be seeing his work. It was just a point of pride.

Teevens had many favorite sayings and habits. After a loss, his motto was "A&I": adjust and improvise. And he finished his emails and texts with the same four letters. This signature sign-off is one that many will be using in the wake of this loss: "Tx, BT." Thanks, Buddy Teevens. For your history-making, hard-working, deep-loving life.

Coach Teevens' fierce passion for the game and his players is surpassed only by that for his family. In addition to his wife Kirsten, he is survived by daughter Lindsay (Matt), son Eugene IV (McKeanna) and four grandchildren, Caroline, Leila, Jack, and Eugene V. His loss is also mourned by his mother Mary and siblings Debbie, Scott, Shaun, Chris, Kevin, Tim, Moira, and Tara.

A celebration of Buddy's life will be held in the spring.

Information for those wishing to donate in honor of Coach Teevens will be forthcoming.