William Howard "Bud" Saunders (May 1, 1884 – ?) was an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
player, coach of football and
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at
William Jewell College in 1911, at Haskell Institute—now
Haskell Indian Nations University—from 1918 to 1919, at
Grinnell College from 1920 to 1921, and at
Clemson University from 1923 to 1926. Saunders was the head basketball coach at
Knox College in
Galesburg, Illinois
Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...
during the 1922–23 season and at Clemson from 1923 to 1925, compiling a career
college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
coaching record of 20–40. He also served as the
athletic director
An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...
at Clemson from 1923 to 1926.
Early life and college career
A native of
St. Joseph, Missouri
St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...
, Saunders graduated from the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
in 1911, in the field of law. He played football there as a
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
on
William Roper
William Roper ( – 4 January 1578) was an English lawyer and member of Parliament. The son of a Kentish gentleman, he married Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas More. He wrote a highly regarded biography of his father-in-law.
Life
William Roper ...
's 1909 team. He was also a member of
Phi Delta Theta
Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad ...
during his time at Missouri.
Coaching career
Saunders began his coaching career in
William Jewell College in
Liberty, Missouri
Liberty is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Missouri, United States and is a suburb of Kansas City, located in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States Census the population was 30,167. Liberty is home to Willi ...
when he took charge of the football team in October 1911. He had been slated to coach football at
Missouri Valley College
Missouri Valley College is a private college that is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Marshall, Missouri. The college was founded in 1889 and supports 40 academic majors and an enrollment close to 1,500 students. Misso ...
that year, but the school disbanded their football team. Saunders served briefly as a football coach at Knox College previous to his stint at Clemson.
Head coaching record
Football
Notes
References
External links
1884 births
Year of death missing
American football quarterbacks
Basketball coaches from Missouri
Clemson Tigers athletic directors
Clemson Tigers football coaches
Clemson Tigers men's basketball coaches
Grinnell Pioneers football coaches
Haskell Indian Nations Fighting Indians football coaches
Knox Prairie Fire football coaches
Knox Prairie Fire men's basketball coaches
Missouri S&T Miners football coaches
Missouri Tigers baseball players
Missouri Tigers football players
William Jewell Cardinals football coaches
Sportspeople from St. Joseph, Missouri
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