Former teammates of Eugene F. “Buddy” Teevens ’79, student-athletes he coached and their families, fans, friends, and the public are invited to Dartmouth’s dedication of Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field on Oct. 4.
The ceremony is a continuation of the remembrance and celebration of the former Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach and Ivy League champion quarterback, who died in September 2023 at age 66. In May, more than 1,500 people gathered to remember and honor Teevens in the stadium that will soon bear his name.
The dedication and unveiling of the new Teevens stadium sign will take place at the main entrance to Memorial Field, at the corner of Lebanon and Crosby streets, beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 4, with a reception to follow. Registration is requested.
Speakers are scheduled to include Buddy’s wife, Kirsten Teevens; President Sian Leah Beilock; Haldeman Family Director of Athletics and Recreation Mike Harrity; Board of Trustees Chair Elizabeth Cahill Lempres ’83, Thayer ’84; and Dartmouth linebacker and engineering major Micah Green ’25, who played two seasons under Teevens. In addition, the current football team will attend immediately after their afternoon practice.
In addition to leading the Big Green to the Ivy League title as the quarterback in 1978, Teevens was named New England Coach of the Year in 1990, 2015, and 2019, and Ivy League Coach of the Year in 2019 and 2021. He led Dartmouth to five Ivy League titles and is the football program’s winningest coach.
He was recognized nationally for his innovations, including working with Thayer School of Engineering to create a robotic tackling dummy to cut down on concussions in practice and hiring the first woman assistant football coach in Division I football.
“In the year since we lost Buddy, tributes have poured in from around the world, speaking to his deep lasting impact on countless lives as a coach, motivator, and an innovator,” says Harrity. “Buddy was an extraordinary educator, and his classroom just happened to be the football field. It is fitting that his name and his remarkable legacy will become a permanent tribute at the place he loved and served so well.”
In addition, across the top of the brick facade of Floren Varsity House, above the East stadium stands, a large sign will read: Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field. During halftime of the Dartmouth-Penn game on Oct. 5, the first Ivy League home game of the season, there will be a special recognition of the new sign and tributes to Teevens.
Originally built in 1893 and completed in 1923, Memorial Field was constructed to honor the 112 Dartmouth students and alumni who died in World War I. In subsequent years, memorials to those killed in later conflicts were added. The war memorial plaques will remain in their place of honor at the stadium.