Roy S. “Spec” Keene – Coaching

Roy Spec KeeneRoy S. “Spec” Keene (July 1, 1894 – August 24, 1977) was a football, baseball, and basketball coach at Willamette University and an athletic director at Oregon State University. Keene graduated from Oregon State University in 1921, where he was a pitcher on the baseball team, and was chosen as team captain in his junior year.

After graduating from Oregon State, Keene signed on with Willamette University’s athletic department, where he coached three sports: football for 17 years, baseball for 16 years, and basketball for 11 years. Combined, Keene’s teams won or shared 19 Northwest Conference championships, and in the 1929–30 academic year, each of his three teams were undefeated and won conference championships. Keene is considered the “father of Willamette athletics” and was a charter member of the University’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991.

Following World War II, in 1947, Keene returned to Oregon State to serve as athletic director. He served in that post for 26 years, the longest tenure of any Oregon State athletic director. During his term, he oversaw construction of the University’s two major sports facilities: Gill Coliseum in 1949 and Parker Stadium (later renamed Reser Stadium) in 1953. Keene was President of the Pacific Coast Conference Athletics Directors Association and served on the executive committee of the NCAA.

In 1989, Willamette University built a new baseball stadium, which they named Roy S. “Spec” Keene Stadium. In addition to the Willamette University Athletic Hall of Fame, Keene was inducted into the Oregon State University Sports Hall of Fame in 1991 for his service as athletic director. He died in Corvallis, on August 24, 1977.