Marvin “Shorty” Salmon was a former Wonder Boy student-athlete and coach playing football and running track as a student and coaching football both as an assistant and head coach later on.

As a player, Shorty was a member of the 1939 AIC Championship football team under the direction of ATU Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, John Tucker.

Shorty’s coaching career at his alma mater began in 1954 when he joined the staff of ATU Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, Sam Hindsman. Shorty would be an assistant under Hindsman for the duration of Hindsman’s stint as head coach and helped the Wonder Boys win AIC titles in 1954 and 1958.

Shorty then took the reins of the program from Hindsman in 1959 and was the head coach of the Wonder Boys until 1966. During his time as head coach, Shorty won 53 games and three AIC Championships with titles in 1960, 1961 and 1964.

His three conference championships in football are tied for second-most with ATU Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, Don Dempsey. Shorty’s 1960 championship team made program history as they were the first to reach the 10-win mark in a season; a feat that has only been accomplished three other times.

The impact of Shorty’s coaching at Tech has remained strong to this day. Most-recently, over 50 years since he was head coach, a sizable group of his former players returned to campus for a reunion in celebration of his achievements and his legacy.