Ray F. Ellis Photograph Collection

Ray F. (Raymond Frank) Ellis (1905-1992) served as an assistant coach for the Georgia Tech varsity football team from 1945 until 1951, under head coach Bobby Dodd. He was most noted for his teaching of the "T" formation. During Ellis’ tenure at Tech, the football team went to the Orange Bowl twice (in 1946 and 1948) and held an overall 40-21 record.

Ellis was born on January 3, 1905. A native of LaGrange, Kentucky, he attended high school there, where he participated in all sports. He went on to the University of Kentucky, where he played on the football and basketball teams and participated in track and field. In 1933, Ellis married Martha Stegar, who played an active role in women’s affairs while he coached at Georgia Tech. Ellis served as the head coach of football and basketball at Madisonville High School in Kentucky for 17 years. During this time he became noted at the high school for his use of the "T" formation, which he had learned while on the staff of a boys’ summer camp. In 1944 he was tapped by Bernie Shively to institute the "T" formation for the University of Kentucky football team.

Bobby Dodd, upon being promoted to head coach at Georgia Tech, hired Ellis in 1945 to bring the "T" formation to Tech. Ellis started as the line coach for the varsity football team. He was appointed assistant coach for the varsity football team the next year, remaining in that position until he resigned in May 1951. Ellis cited the increase in outside pressure on the football program as his main reason for leaving.

Following his resignation from Tech, Ellis returned to his hometown of LaGrange to work with his older brother Delbert at an automobile agency. In 1959 Ellis relocated to Tampa, Florida, where he spent more than thirty years as the assistant general manager of WEDU-TV, Channel 3. While there he became an original member of the Tampa Sports Authority (TSA), which was created in 1965 by Florida Governor Hayden Burns for the purpose of planning, developing, and maintaining a comprehensive complex of sports and recreational facilities for the Tampa Bay area. He was appointed to the TSA board by Governor Burns and served on it for more than ten years. From 1965-1969 he chaired the football committee. He was a key person in the scheduling of football games at Tampa Stadium during the late 1960s.

Ellis died on January 23, 1992 at the age of 87. He was survived by his wife Martha Stegar Ellis (ca. 1907-2002), to whom he was married for almost sixty years.