 Cawthon was the head coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers/Tigers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1942 to 1943.He served as the athletic director at Texas Tech from 1930 to 1941 and the University of Alabama from 1952 to 1953.Cawthon graduated from Houston Central High School in 1917 and went on to attend Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.