Ira T. Carrithers was a graduate of the University of Illinois, where he was the first athlete to win nine letters in sports. Football, baseball and track were his interests. His first job was at Alma College as coach and athletic director. He served in a similar position at Knox College and later at Lake Forest College. He also returned to the University of Illinois for a year as an assistant to the famous Bob Zuppke.

Ira Carrithers was induced to come to Coe in 1915 as athletic director and coach of basketball and baseball and assistant coach in football. His term as athletic director from 1915 to 1924 covered the era when Coe was a nationally-known sports power. He was respected and popular as a coach. Those who played under him found their inspiration through his example.

He left coaching in 1924 and built a successful career in life insurance. In Cedar Rapids he was an active civic booster and worked on just about every worthy fund raising project that came along. He was president and board member of the YMCA and president of the Cedar Rapids Tennis Association, where he was an able tennis player.

He also carried the name of Coe with him to athletic fields all over the Midwest as a football official in the Big Ten, Big Six, and Missouri Valley Conferences. Death came to Mr. Carrithers in 1955.

It will never be known if Ira Carrithers might have been a major league baseball player. He signed a contract with the Chicago White Sox upon graduation from Illinois, but his parents would not allow him to fulfill the contract when they learned that the White Sox played on Sunday.

Ira T. Carrithers was posthumously inducted into the Coe College Athletic Hall of Fame.