William Travis "Bully" Van de Graaff (October 25, 1895 – April 26, 1977) 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, and college athletics administrator. He attended Tuscaloosa High School. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

, where he was selected as an All-American in 1915, Alabama's first. He was 6'1" 187 pounds. "Bully" was placed on an ''Associated Press'' Southeast Area All-Time football team 1869-1919 era. Van de Graaff served as the head football coach at Colorado College from 1926 to 1939, compiling a record of 49–54–6. He coached hall of famer Dutch Clark. He died in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

, on April 26, 1977, at the age of 81. He was the older brother of physicist

Robert J. Van de Graaff Robert Jemison Van de Graaff (December 20, 1901 – January 16, 1967) was an American physicist, noted for his design and construction of high-voltage Van de Graaff generators. The bulk of his career was spent in the Massachusetts Institute of T ...

, the designer of the Van de Graaff generator which produces high

voltage Voltage, also known as electric pressure, electric tension, or (electric) potential difference, is the difference in electric potential between two points. In a static electric field, it corresponds to the work needed per unit of charge to m ...

s. Bully's two older brothers, Hargrove and

Adrian Adrian is a form of the Latin language, Latin given name Adrianus (given name), Adrianus or Hadrianus (disambiguation), Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria (river), Adria from the Venetic language, Venetic and ...

, were also Alabama football players.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van de Graaff, William T. 1895 births 1977 deaths American football tackles Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches Alabama Crimson Tide football players Colorado College Tigers athletic directors Colorado College Tigers football coaches All-Southern college football players United States Army officers United States Military Academy alumni Players of American football from Tuscaloosa, Alabama Coaches of American football from Alabama American people of Dutch descent