Southern Connecticut State University Athletics

Jess L. Dow founded the Southern football program in 1948 and served as its first head coach and director of athletics. His teams had an 18-year record of 108-40-6. They had 16 winning seasons, were unbeaten in 1956, and had seven seasons in which only one game was lost. Dow was named Connecticut Coach of the Year in 1950 and 1953. Prior to coaching, Dow himself was a Little All-America fullback and Hall of Fame Inductee at West Texas A&M University and played with the National Football League’s Philadelphia Eagles.