Mel Taube

Melvin Henry Taube (December 20, 1904 – June 15, 1979) was an American college football, college basketball, and college baseball player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Massachusetts State College, from 1931 to 1935 and at Carleton College from 1960 to 1969, compiling a career college football head coaching record of 62–58–5. Taube was also the head basketball coach at Massachusetts State College (1933–1936), Purdue University (1945–1950), and Carleton (1950–1960), amassing a career college basketball head coaching mark of 201–142 and winning four Midwest Conference championships. He was the head baseball coach at Massachusetts State (1932–1935), Purdue (1947–1950), and Carleton (1951–1970), tallying a career college baseball head coaching record of 93–74–3. A three-sport letterman, Taube played football, basketball, and baseball at Purdue.

Taube spent 20 seasons at Carleton College, arriving in the summer of 1950 as the head basketball and head baseball coach. He was also an assistant football coach until assuming the role of head football coach in 1960, following the death of Warren Beson. Taube served as Carleton's head football coach, head baseball coach, and athletic director until his retirement in 1970.

In his honor, Carleton annually awards the Mel Taube Award to a varsity athlete for "dedication, loyalty, competitive spirit, and excellence in athletics." In 2008, the Carleton baseball field was named for Taube.

Taube received a bachelor's degree from Purdue University in 1926 and a Master of Science from Indiana University in 1933. He served in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1945 and became a lieutenant.

Taube died on June 15, 1979, at Morton Plant Hospital in Morton Plant Hospital.