Prince “Prink” Callison (August 15, 1899 – June 17, 1986) is another coach who made his mark in Oregon sports in both the high school and college ranks.
The California native played football and basketball at Eugene High School. He came to the University of Oregon campus for the first time in 1920, playing three winning seasons of football under coach Shy Huntington.
In 1923 he became head coach of all four sports teams at Medford High School, then known as the Tigers. His football teams won the Western Oregon championship four times and were voted best in the state by sports writers and broadcasters. The basketball team won state championships in 1924 and 1929 and finished second in 1928. Medford teams won 18 of 19 championships contested over those years. Prink mentored Al Melvin who was considered the greatest MHS athlete of all time, starring in football and basketball.
In 1932, Callison returned to Eugene to take over as head coach of the Ducks football program. UO would reel off four straight winning seasons.
In 1933, he reached the pinnacle with a 9-1 record and finished in a tie for the Pacific Coast Conference championship with Stanford. Since the two schools did not play each other, the Rose Bowl committee would decide who would play in the big game in Pasadena. They chose Stanford, on the strength of their win over USC, the only team to have beaten Oregon that year. That was the highlight of his six-year career at UO, his overall record was 33-23-2.
Prink Callison is a member of the Medford Sports Hall of Fame.