Duke Nelson

American sports coach and administrator (1907–1989)

Duke Nelson
Biographical details
Born	(1907-04-26)April 26, 1907 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	October 22, 1989(1989-10-22) (aged 82) Middlebury, Vermont, U.S.
Alma mater	Middlebury College
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1938	Union (NY) (line)
1939–1941	RPI
1946–1968	Middlebury
Baseball
1933–1936	Middlebury
1937–1938	Union (NY)
Ice hockey
1932–1936	Middlebury
1936–1939	Union (NY)
1946–1964	Middlebury
1981–1983	Middlebury (W)
Lacrosse
1954–1968	Middlebury

Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1946–1956	Middlebury (assistant AD)
1956–1969	Middlebury

Head coaching record
Overall	98–81–12 (football) 211–177–7 (men's ice hockey) 14–14–1 (women's ice hockey) 9–26–1 (lacrosse)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Football 2 Vermont State Conference (1948–1949)

Walter John "Duke" Nelson (April 26, 1907 – October 22, 1989) was an American college athletics coach and administrator. He was the head American football coach at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) from 1939 to 1941 and at Middlebury College from 1946 to 1968 compiling a career college football coaching record of 98–81–12. At Middlebury, he teams won back-to-back Vermont State Conference championships in 1948 and 1949. Nelson graduated from Middlebury in 1932.^[1]

Head coaching record

Football


Year	Team	Overall	Standing
RPI Engineers (Independent) (1939–1941)
1939	RPI	4–2–1
1940	RPI	7–1
1941	RPI	4–3
RPI:		15–6–2
Middlebury Panthers (Independent) (1946–1947)
1946	Middlebury	2–4–1
1947	Middlebury	6–1–1
Middlebury Panthers (Vermont State Conference) (1948–1950)
1948	Middlebury	7–1	T–1st
1949	Middlebury	4–2–1	1st
1950	Middlebury	3–4–1
Middlebury Panthers (NCAA College Division independent) (1951–1962)
1951	Middlebury	4–4
1952	Middlebury	2–5
1953	Middlebury	2–5
1954	Middlebury	4–2–1
1955	Middlebury	3–4
1956	Middlebury	4–3
1957	Middlebury	5–2
1958	Middlebury	4–3
1959	Middlebury	5–1–1
1960	Middlebury	5–1–1
1961	Middlebury	5–1–1
1962	Middlebury	5–2
Middlebury Panthers (Green Mountain Conference) (1963)
1963	Middlebury	2–5
Middlebury Panthers (NCAA College Division independent) (1964–1968)
1964	Middlebury	3–3–1
1965	Middlebury	2–5
1966	Middlebury	3–5
1967	Middlebury	2–6
1968	Middlebury	1–6–1
Middlebury:		83–75–10
Total:		98–81–12
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth

^[2]^[3]

References

^ "Walter "Duke" Nelson". Middlebury College Athletics. Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
^ "NCAA Statistics". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
^ "Middlebury College Football Coaching History" (PDF). Middlebury College. Retrieved June 12, 2024.

External links

Duke Nelson at Find a Grave

Union Garnet Chargers men's ice hockey

Formerly the Union Skating Dutchmen and Union Dutchmen

Playing venues

Achilles Rink (1975–2025)
Mohawk Harbor Event Center (2025–Future)

Head coaches

Ambrose Clark (1919–1920, 1921–1922, 1923–1924)
Elmer Oliphant (1922–1923)
Henry Gardner (1924–1925)
Harold A. Larrabee (1925–1930)
William Harkness (1930–1933)
Henry L. Achilles (1933–1935)
Arthur C. Lawrence (1935–1936, 1939–1942, 1947–1949)
Duke Nelson (1936–1939)
Ned Harkness (1975–1977)
Bob Driscoll (1978)
Charles Morrison (1978–1988)
Bruce Delventhal (1988–1996)
Stan Moore (1996–1998)
Kevin Sneddon (1998–2003)
Nate Leaman (2003–2011)
Rick Bennett (2011–2022)
John Ronan (2022)
Josh Hauge (2022–Present)

Seasons

1903–04
1905–06
1906–07
1907–08
1908–09
1909–10
1910–11
1919–20
1921–22
1922–23
1923–24
1924–25
1925–26
1926–27
1927–28
1928–29
1929–30
1930–31
1931–32
1932–33
1933–34
1934–35
1935–36
1936–37
1937–38
1938–39
1939–40
1940–41
1941–42
1947–48
1948–49
1975–76
1976–77
1977–78
1978–79
1979–80
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87
1987–88
1988–89
1989–90
1990–91
1991–92
1992–93
1993–94
1994–95
1995–96
1996–97
1997–98
1998–99
1999–00
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
2003–04
2004–05
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17
2017–18
2018–19
2019–20
2020–21
2021–22
2022–23
2023–24

Conference affiliations

ECAC 2 (1975–1984)
ECAC West (1984–1991)
ECAC Hockey (1991–present)

Rivalries

RPI Engineers

All-time leaders

Mike Vecchione (176 Points)
Gil Egan (83 Goals)
Colin Stevens (53 Wins)

National championships

2014

Frozen Four appearances

NCAA Tournament appearances

Conference Tournament titles

Union College
Schenectady, NY

v t e Middlebury Panthers men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Duke Nelson Arena (1950–1999) Kenyon Arena (1999–Present)
Head coaches	Erwin Drost (1922–1924) John Leary (1924–1925) William McLaughlin (1925–1926) Carleton Simmons (1926–1928) Roy Clogston (1928–1929) Richard Phelan (1929–1932) Duke Nelson (1932–1936, 1946–1964) John Nash (1936–1940) George Ackerstrom (1940–1942) George Phinny (1942–1943) Wendall Forbes (1964–1986) Bill Beaney (1986–2002, 2003–2015) Neil Sinclair (2002–2003, 2015–Present)
Seasons	1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2021–22 2022–23
Conference affiliations	Tri-State League (1950–1959) ECAC Hockey (1962–1964) ECAC 2 (1964–1985) ECAC East (1985–2000) NESCAC (2000–Present)
All-time leaders	Phil Latreille (250 goals) Phil Latreille (346 points)
National championships	1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2004 2005 2006
Frozen Four appearances	1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
NCAA Tournament appearances	1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2010
Conference Tournament titles	ECAC 2: 1979 ECAC East: 1991 NESCAC: 2000 2001 2002 2004 2005 2006 2007 2010
Sid Watson winners	Ray Alcindor Ian Smith Mark Spence Kevin Cooper
Middlebury College Middlebury, VT

v t e RPI Engineers head football coaches
No coach (1886) No team (1887–1888) No coach (1889) No team (1890–1891) No coach (1892–1906) William Wiles Elder (1907) William Geiger (1908–1909) H. R. Bankart (1910) John Inglis (1911–1913) Frank Gargan (1914) A. J. Sturzenegger (1915) John M. Reed (1916–1919) Paul Graham (1920–1926) Glenn Killinger (1927–1931) Henry W. Kumpf (1932–1938) Duke Nelson (1939–1941) Paul Graham (1942–1945) Edward A. Jontos (1946–1952) Nick Skorich (1953) John Coons (1954) Richard S. Lyon (1955–1957) Ed Hoffman (1958–1962) Richard Riendeau (1963–1972) Dave White (1973–1981) Bob Ducatte (1982–1983) Kevin Earl (1984–1988) Joe King (1989–2010) Tim Landis (2011) Bob Bodor (2012) Ralph Isernia (2013–2019) No team (2020) Ralph Isernia (2021– )

RPI Engineers head football coaches

No coach (1886)
No team (1887–1888)
No coach (1889)
No team (1890–1891)
No coach (1892–1906)
William Wiles Elder (1907)
William Geiger (1908–1909)
H. R. Bankart (1910)
John Inglis (1911–1913)
Frank Gargan (1914)
A. J. Sturzenegger (1915)
John M. Reed (1916–1919)
Paul Graham (1920–1926)
Glenn Killinger (1927–1931)
Henry W. Kumpf (1932–1938)
Duke Nelson (1939–1941)
Paul Graham (1942–1945)
Edward A. Jontos (1946–1952)
Nick Skorich (1953)
John Coons (1954)
Richard S. Lyon (1955–1957)
Ed Hoffman (1958–1962)
Richard Riendeau (1963–1972)
Dave White (1973–1981)
Bob Ducatte (1982–1983)
Kevin Earl (1984–1988)
Joe King (1989–2010)
Tim Landis (2011)
Bob Bodor (2012)
Ralph Isernia (2013–2019)
No team (2020)
Ralph Isernia (2021– )

v t e Middlebury Panthers head football coaches
Unknown (1893–1894) No team (1895) Henry C. Whitaker (1896) Warren D. Smith (1897) Edwin A. Locke & Morse (1898) Unknown (1899–1900) Arthur H. Whittemore (1901) Unknown (1902) David Austin (1903–1904) Wendell P. McGrail (1905) Unknown (1906) David Austin (1907–1908) Arthur J. Pierce (1909) Pat Keefe (1910–1912) Frank Bergin (1913) Joseph A. Francis (1914) Edwin N. Holmes (1915–1916) Simmy Murch (1917) Arthur M. Brown (1918–1920) Dave Morey (1921–1924) Marshall Klevenow (1925–1927) Ben Beck (1928–1941) Samuel Guarnaccia (1942) No team (1943) P. J. Dranginis & C. W. Laird (1944) Arthur M. Brown (1945) Duke Nelson (1946–1968) John W. Anderson (1969–1972) Mickey Heinecken (1973–2000) Bob Ritter (2001–2019) No team (2020) Bob Ritter (2021–2022) Doug Mandigo (2023– )

Middlebury Panthers head football coaches