Carroll Eldon Tharp (December 23, 1908 – March 30, 1979) was an American college football coach. He was the head football coach for Central College in 1945.
Tharp played college football for Central College as a guard under head coach Len Winter and alongside Richard Tysseling.[1] He also saw time as a fullback at the beginning of the 1929 season.[2]
Following Tharp's graduation from Central, he was hired as the head basketball coach for Pleasant Plain High School in Pleasant Plain, Iowa, in both men and women's basketball.[3] By 1935, the men's team had won the Jersey County Six Conference championship three times, with the women's team also seeing moderate success.[4]
In 1944, Tharp returned to Central as an assistant football coach under Tunis Prins.[5] In the following year, Tharp "filled in" for former teammate Tysseling, who was still serving in the United States Navy.[6][7] In Tharp's lone season as head coach, he led the team to a 7–1 record and a perfect 5–0 record in Iowa Conference play to finish as conference champions.[8] He returned the following year as an assistant to Tysseling.[6] Tharp remained with the school until at least 1947, when he was serving as an assistant baseball coach.[9]
In February 1929, Tharp married Jean De Reus.[10] In the summer of 1931, he attended industrial arts classes at Iowa State College—now known as Iowa State University.[11]
Prior to returning to Central, Tharp bought a restaurant in Pella, Iowa.[6]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Dutch (Iowa Conference) (1945) | |||||||||
| 1945 | Central | 7–1 | 5–0 | 1st | |||||
| Central: | 7–1 | 5–0 | |||||||
| Total: | 7–1 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
