Science Hill High School

Plowboy Farmer

Stuart "Plowboy" Farmer

Stuart "Plowboy" Farmer was a Chattanooga native who won All-Virginia honors at Emory & Henry. He started coaching Science Hill in 1930. His teams went 89-43-6 in football in 15 years (1930-42, 1946-47). He had two unbeaten seasons, two mythical state titles and a 26-game stretch without a loss.

Farmer's 1939-40 teams went 20-1-1. He'd prophetically sent prospective players a long letter in August of 1938, telling them sternly that they would follow all rules or not play, and that if they followed rules the Hilltoppers should have excellent teams in the coming years.

With All-East Tennessee players such as Kermit Tipton, Arthur "Bud" Kelsey, Gayle Cox, Jack Osborne and Bob Storie, Farmer's 1939 'Toppers went 10-0-1 while outscoring opponents 217-7.

Elizabethton, a power then under future 'Toppers coach Niles “Mule” Brown, had a mock burial of Farmer before their home game in 1940, complete with an ambulance or hearse.

"It upset him," Osborne said. "He didn’t cry but he had tears in his eyes. And seeing that upset me so much I got the opening kickoff and took the cotton-picking thing 91 yards for a touchdown. And the next time I got my hands on the ball, I took it 70-some yards for a touchdown. My point is that Farmer influenced me that much with those tears."

Farmer's 1932-33 teams went undefeated, outscoring opponents 294-48 in '33. They shut out Knox Central, beat Elizabethton 33-0, Kingsport 19-6 and Chattanooga 33-16.

"He stayed on top of you year-round," Osborne said. "He'd make sure we had school equipment to play (sandlot) ball in the summer. He wanted us to stay in shape."

Farmer also coached basketball five years (61-32) and led the 'Toppers to a state track title when they had Charlie Fleming running in 1935.

“Plowboy Farmer had just outstanding football teams,” Sid Smallwood said. “And he didn’t have but one or two people helping him. The athletic programs weren’t what some others were then but Plowboy helped change that.”