1975 Hall of Fame Inductee
Ott Romney was born December 12, 1892, in Salt Lake City. He married Ruth Harding in 1919, and they are parents of three children - two girls and one boy. A graduate of the University of Utah, Ott received his master’s degree from Montana State College. During World War I he gave up a Rhodes scholarship to join the U.S. Army Air Corps.
Coaching in all major sports at BYU from 1926 to 1937, Coach Romney also served as athletic director. His basketball and track teams won many conference championships. He was a coach at East High School and Montana State College in Bozeman during his career, and once served as director of extension classes at Utah State University.
His national positions included chairman of the National Recreation Policies Committee; national director of the recreation section of the WPA; assignments with the American Association of Health, Physical Education and Recreation; and membership on President Eisenhower’s Council on Youth Fitness. During World War II he served as chief of recreation and club unit services to the United States Armed Forces through the Red Cross.
In 1973 Coach Romney was honored by the Old-Time Athletic Association for more than fifty years of activity in sports.