Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens, 66, dies after bicycle accident in March

Dartmouth football coach Eugene F. “Buddy” Teevens, who introduced innovative methods to make the sport safer, died Tuesday as a result of complications from injuries suffered in a bicycle accident in March. He was 66 years old.

Teevens, Dartmouth’s all-time winningest coach, had two stints as head coach at his alma mater, going 117-101-2 and five Ivy League championships.

In March, he was hit by a truck while riding his bike in Florida. He suffered spinal cord injuries and had to have his right leg amputated.

Dartmouth announced in May that assistant Sammy McCorkle would serve as interim coach through the 2023 season. Teevens moved to Boston over the summer to continue his rehabilitation from the accident.

“Throughout this journey, we constantly pass on the thoughts, memories and love we sent him,” Teevens’ family said in a statement released through Dartmouth. “Your kindness from him and letters of encouragement from him did not go unnoticed and were greatly appreciated by both Buddy and our family. We are confident and comforted by the fact that he passed away knowing how much we loved and admired him.”

McCorkle and athletic director Mike Harrity informed the team of Teevens’ death after practice Tuesday. Teevens had overseen the program from 2005 and also from 1987 to 1991. He led Dartmouth to shared Ivy League championships in 1990, 2015, 2019 and 2021 and an outright title in 1991.

In 2010, he became the first coach to eliminate full-contact practices year-round, a method adopted across the Ivy League in 2016. Teevens’ efforts led Dartmouth’s engineering school to create the Mobile Virtual Player , a robotic input device used by other universities. teams and in the NFL.

“His impact on both college football and the NFL has been enormous,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said of Teevens during the 2023 NFL draft. “He has been a leader in making our game safer through revolutionary innovations. He is a pioneer in recruiting female coaches, two of whom currently coach in the NFL.”

Teevens first became a head coach at Maine in 1986 and held two of those positions in the FBS, at Tulane and Stanford, where he went a combined 21-68.

He played quarterback at Dartmouth and earned Ivy League Player of the Year honors in 1978, when the Big Green won the conference title. Teevens also played hockey in college.

Dartmouth will hold a moment of silence for Teevens before this week’s home game against Lehigh.

“This is tragic news for Dartmouth and the entire football world,” Dartmouth President Sian Leah Beilock and Harrity said in a joint statement. “Buddy was not only synonymous with Dartmouth football, but he was a beloved coach and an innovative and inspiring leader who helped shape the lives of generations of students.”