Turkey Hughes
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Richmond, Kentucky, U.S.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 22, 1902 |
| Died | August 31, 1985 (aged 83) Richmond, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1923–1924 | Kentucky |
| Basketball | |
| 1923–1925 | Kentucky |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1929–1934 | Eastern Kentucky |
| Basketball | |
| 1929–1935 | Eastern Kentucky |
| Baseball | |
| 1930–1959 | Eastern Kentucky |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1942–1963 | Eastern Kentucky |
Charles "Turkey" Hughes (April 22, 1902 – August 31, 1985) was a coach and administrator at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) from 1922 to 1972.[1] Hughes coached over five different teams which included baseball, tennis, basketball and football. As an administrator he served as the Chairman of the Department of Health and Physical Education. Hughes served as the athletic director as well. He did all of this when there were only seven buildings on campus.
Early in his career at EKU, Hughes was coaching football, baseball and basketball and only had one assistant. He did this until 1936. He stuck with football until 1941 and he became the Chairman of the Health and Physical Education Department. In 1941 he became the athletic director and head coached the baseball team. He did this until his retirement in 1971.[2] He however went part time in 1965 because the demand for two jobs became too great. Hughes described that he never knew that there could be such tall buildings on campus and said old buildings could tell a lot of stories.[3]
"Turkey" Hughes helped form the Ohio Valley Conference.[4] He is known as the "Dean of the OVC". It all started on February 27, 1948, Eastern Kentucky University, Western Kentucky University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, and Louisville University withdrew from the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and joined with Evansville College to form the Ohio Valley Conference. A prominent leader in this movement was "Turkey" Hughes, in December 1948, Marshall College of Huntington joined the conference, West Virginia University and Tennessee Tech University joined which boosted EKU's national recognition. In 1950 EKU's baseball team coached by Hughes won its first baseball championship in the history of the sport.[5]