In early September, 1935, during Light's senior year, Ithaca's head football coach, Bucky Freeman, was stricken with typhoid fever while at his wife's home in Fort Edward, New York.
[3][4][5] After graduating in 1936, Light remained at Ithaca College as a teacher and coach of the freshman football, basketball, and baseball teams.
[8] In December 1945, Light was named varsity basketball coach at Ithaca, succeeding Isadore "Doe" Yavits.
In 1959, Light appointed Carlton "Carp" Wood as graduate manager of athletics, and was promoted to the position of secretary of Ithaca College.
In that position, he was responsible for negotiating with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (DHUD) and the New York State Dormitory Authority, to raise funds for construction of the new Ithaca College campus.