Quick Facts
GeminiBiography
James Roland Kitts (June 14, 1900 – December 13, 1952) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach.He served as head football coach at Rice Institute—now Rice University—from 1934 to 1939 and at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1941 and from 1946 to 1947, compiling a career college football record of 46–42–7.Kitts was also the head basketball coach at Rice from 1932 to 1938, tallying a mark of 58–56.Kitts was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1956.
Coaching career
From 1934 to 1939, Kitts coached at Rice, and compiled a 33–29–4 record. His 1934 team went 9–1–1, however his 1939 team went 1–9–1. Prior to coaching at Rice, Kitts guided the University of Dallas (U of Dallas) football, baseball, and men's basketball programs from 1923-1926. Kitts posted an 11-5-2 record with football, 26-15 record with baseball, and 17-17 record with basketball.
Death
Kitts died on December 13, 1952 in El Paso, Texas.
Head coaching record
Football
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | AP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rice Owls (Southwest Conference) | |||||||||
| 1934 | Rice | 9–1–1 | 5–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1935 | Rice | 8–3 | 3–3 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1936 | Rice | 5–7 | 1–5 | T–6th | |||||
| 1937 | Rice | 6–3–2 | 4–1–1 | 1st | W Cotton | 18 | |||
| 1938 | Rice | 4–6 | 3–3 | 4th | |||||
| 1939 | Rice | 1–9–1 | 0–5–1 | 7th | |||||
| Rice: | 33–29–4 | 16–18–2 | |||||||
| VPI Goblers (Southern Conference) | |||||||||
| 1941 | VPI | 6–4 | 4–2 | T–5th | |||||
| VPI Goblers (Southern Conference) | |||||||||
| 1946 | VPI | 3–4–3 | 3–3–2 | T–7th | L Sun | ||||
| 1947 | VPI | 4–5 | 4–3 | 8th | |||||
| VPI: | 13–13–3 | 11–8–2 | |||||||
| Total: | 46–42–7 | ||||||||
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