Charles Wesley "Shifty"[1] Bolen (January 8, 1894 – December 28, 1953) was an American football and basketball player, coach, and college athletics administrator.
Bolen served as the head football at Ohio Northern University from 1919 to 1921 and at Wilmington College in Wilmington, Ohio from 1923 to 1929, compiling a career college football coaching record of 37–40–1. He was also the head coach of the men's basketball team at Ohio Northern from 1919 to 1922, tallying a mark of 37–19. He served for many years as an administrator in the Ohio Northern athletic department and was the founder of the university's intramural sports program.[5]
Bolen died in 1953 and was buried at the Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.[6]
^The 1918 Ohio State yearbook, the Makio, at page 139, contained a profile of Bolen, indicating he had been "aptly named" as "Shifty" by his teammates.
^The Ohio State yearbook for 1917 (the Makio for 1917), at pages 155 and 176, confirms that "Charles W. Bolen" received varsity letters that year in both football and basketball.