Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American
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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...
coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his innovations are the single and double wing formations (precursors of the modern spread and shotgun formations), the three point stance and the body blocking technique. Fellow pioneer coach
Amos Alonzo Stagg
Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfiel ...
called Warner "one of the excellent creators". He was inducted as a coach into the
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vo ...
as part of its inaugural class in 1951. He also contributed to a junior football program which became known as Pop Warner Little Scholars, a popular youth American football organization.
In the early 1900s, he created a premier football program at the
Carlisle Indian Industrial School
The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from 1879 through 1918. It took over the historic Carlisle ...
—a federally-funded, off-reservation
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
1918
This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide.
Events
Below, the events ...
and
Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...
University of Georgia
, mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things."
, establ ...
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
(1897–1898 and 1904–1906),
Carlisle
Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...
(1899–1903 and 1907–1914), Pittsburgh (1915–1923), Stanford (1924–1932) and
Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...
(1933–1938), compiling a career
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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...
record of 319–106–32. Predating
Bear Bryant
Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...
, Eddie Robinson, and Joe Paterno, he once had the most wins of any coach in college football history.
Early years
Warner was born April 5, 1871 on a farm in
Springville, New York
Springville is a village in the southeastern section of the town of Concord in Erie County, New York, United States. Springville is the principal community in the town and a major business location in southern Erie County. The population was 4,2 ...
. He was the son of William Warner, a
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in ...
officer in the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
, and schoolteacher Adaline Scobey. In 1878 a railroad came to Springville, and four years later the family moved to a house on East Main Street.
Plump as a child, Warner was sometimes known as "Butter". He began playing
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
at an early age, and was a skilled
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...
. Nobody in town owned a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
; his only exposure to the new sport at a young age was with an inflated cow's bladder, and as few knew the rules, the game more resembled
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
. Warner's East Main Street house attracted a number of friends; when a neighbor told his mother that the boys' play would damage her lawn, she replied: "I'm raising boys, not grass."
In 1889 at 19 years old, Warner graduated from Springville-Griffith Institute and joined his family in moving down to
Wichita Falls, Texas
Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Accord ...
, to work on their new purchased cattle and wheat ranch totaling over hundreds of acres. Aside from ranching, Warner got a job assisting a tinsmith. He was already interested in art as a child—learning how to
paint
Paint is any pigmented liquid, liquefiable, or solid mastic composition that, after application to a substrate in a thin layer, converts to a solid film. It is most commonly used to protect, color, or provide texture. Paint can be made in many ...
watercolor
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...
landscapes, and as a tinsmith he learned how to use tools to make things like cups, teapots, baking pans, and lanterns.
Student years at Cornell
In 1892, Warner returned to Springville and began to use his cowboy experience to gamble on
horse races
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
. Although he had no interest in college, soon after coming back he attended
Cornell Law School
Cornell Law School is the law school of Cornell University, a private Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. One of the five Ivy League law schools, it offers four law degree programs, JD, LLM, MSLS and JSD, along with several dual-deg ...
, as he had lost all of his money at the races. Later Warner wrote "I dare not write to my father and tell him I was broke"—he felt that the only way to get funds was to inform his father that he had decided to study law. His father, who had always wanted him to be a
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicit ...
, sent him .
Eventually, Warner became known as "Pop" because he was one of the oldest students at
Cornell
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
. Warner graduated from Cornell in 1894 and began working as an attorney in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
. This job only lasted for a few months.
Playing career
On Warner's train ride to
Ithaca
Ithaca most commonly refers to:
*Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey''
*Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca
*Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College
Ithaca, Ithaka ...
(the site of Cornell), he met Carl Johanson, then Cornell's football coach, who was impressed by Warner's weight (200 pounds). Johanson practically ordered Warner to attend practice. This happened even though Warner admitted that he had never handled a real football.
Despite his commitment to football, at the time Warner's true passion was baseball. During one of his first practices at Cornell he badly injured his shoulder and never played serious baseball again. Warner also participated in
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
and was the school's
heavyweight
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Boxing Professional
Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the W ...
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
champion for two years.
=Football
=
During his three years at Cornell, Warner played as a
guard
Guard or guards may refer to:
Professional occupations
* Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault
* Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street
* Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning
* Prison gu ...
on the football team. Even though he graduated in the spring of 1894, he returned as a post-graduate and was named
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of the 1894 team, which had a 6–4–1 record.
Due to the then-tradition of alumni coming back to assist their undergraduate teams in rivalry games, Cornell's coach Marshall Newell left for several weeks to assist
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
. As a captain, Warner was put in charge during the coach's absence. It was during this time that Warner came up with his first original play: Three backs who normally protected the rusher would fake a run to one side, while the
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 Am ...
kept the ball and would
hand
A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "h ...
it to the runner, who now had an open field to run through on the other side. During the first in-game execution of the play, Warner carried the ball and was able to run clear for 25 yards. However, as Warner was a guard and not a runner, he was incorrectly holding the ball, and
fumble
A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...
In the spring of 1895, Warner was asked for a reference to fill the vacant head coaching position at Iowa Agricultural College, in
Ames, Iowa
Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary me ...
. Instead of giving a reference, Warner himself applied for the job and received an offer for $25 per week (). At the same time, he decided to apply to other schools and received an offer of $34 per week () from the
University of Georgia
, mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things."
, establ ...
in
Athens, Georgia
Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the ...
. Because Iowa State began its season in August—almost one and a half months prior to the beginning in Georgia—Warner was able to work out a deal. For , he would coach in Iowa from August until the second week of September, and then head to Georgia and begin coaching there.
Iowa State
Ultimately, not only did Warner end up coaching at Iowa State before his time at Georgia; but while in Athens, he also received weekly updates from Iowa and sent back telegraphs with detailed advice for the following week. One story recounts that in the middle of September (just before leaving for Georgia), Warner took his team north west for a previously agreed-upon game against the Butte Athletic Club of
Butte, Montana
Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to t ...
. Apparently overconfident, Warner bet the entire sum of his Iowa State wages——on his team's victory. At halftime, his team trailed 10–2. Warner decided to enter the game, filling in at the guard position. Though this had a positive impact, it was not sufficient as his team still lost 12–10. In a 1947 publication by Francis J. Powers, there is an alternate take on the causes of the Butte loss: "The game was played on a field as devoid of grass as a glacier and there was nothing green ... It was impossible for the center to snap the ball to the quarterback on the bounce or even roll it without chances for a fumble ... Whenever Iowa State threatened to score, the referee (a home towner) would make a decision which chilled the Cyclones' offense ... spectators, who followed up and down the sidelines, would whip out their six shooters and blaze away with enthusiasm, which also chilled the Iowa college boys." In order to try and make up for losing all of his Iowa State wages, Warner worked out a deal where, for , he would stay in contact with Iowa State while at Georgia.
Soon after Warner left for Georgia, Iowa State had its first official college game of the season. In Evanston, just north of Chicago,
underdog
An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, the ...
Iowa State defeated Northwestern 36–0. A ''Chicago Tribune'' headline read, "Struck by a
Cyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an an ...
". Since then, Iowa State teams have been known as the
Cyclones
In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an an ...
. The team finished with three wins and three losses and, like Georgia, retained Warner for the following season. In 1896, Iowa State had eight wins and two losses. Despite leaving Georgia for Cornell in 1897, Warner remained head coach at Iowa State for another three years, posting winning records.
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A) football programs were members of this conferen ...
(SIAA), the first athletic conference in the
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
. The football team had three wins and four losses, including a loss to North Carolina from a not-yet-legal
forward pass
In several forms of football, a forward pass is the throwing of the ball in the direction in which the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line. The forward pass is one of the main distinguishers between gridiro ...
. He was rehired at a salary of $40 per week, and the next season Georgia had one of the school's first great teams. With an undefeated record, the team won its first conference title. It also avenged the loss to North Carolina, winning 24–16, "For the first time in Southern football history the football supremacy of Virginia and North Carolina was successfully challenged."
During those two years Warner also played two games against
John Heisman
John William Heisman (October 23, 1869 – October 3, 1936) was a player and coach of American football, baseball, and basketball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College, Buchtel College ...
, another future coaching legend. Heisman was the head coach at
Auburn University
Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest ...
, and they faced each other in the 1895 and 1896 games of the "
Deep South's Oldest Rivalry
The Auburn–Georgia football rivalry is a college football rivalry game between the Auburn Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs.
The two teams first played each other in 1892, and the rivalry has been renewed annually since 1944 for a total of 126 ga ...
," an annual confrontation which has continued to the present day. In 1895, the
Auburn Tigers
The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associ ...
defeated the Bulldogs 12–6. The Auburn team was led by
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 Am ...
punt returns
In gridiron football, a punt is a kick performed by dropping the ball from the hands and then kicking the ball before it hits the ground. The most common use of this tactic is to punt the ball downfield to the opposing team, usually on the final d ...
. Tichenor had executed the first " hidden-ball trick" in an earlier Auburn game against Vanderbilt, and used it again against Georgia. The next year, Tichenor faced Georgia's Richard Von Albade Gammon, a star quarterback in his first year under Warner. Both quarterbacks played well and, unlike the previous year, Warner's team won 16–6. The second touchdown came right after the first
onside kick
In gridiron football, an onside kick is a kickoff deliberately kicked short in an attempt by the kicking team to regain possession of the ball. This is in contrast with a typical kickoff, in which the kicking team intends to give the ball to the ...
in the South.
Cornell
After Georgia's outstanding 1896 performance, Warner returned to his '' alma mater'' Cornell at twice his Georgia salary. While remaining head coach at
Iowa State
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...
, he coached Cornell to records of 5–3–1 in 1897 and 10–2 in 1898; in the latter season, Cornell outscored its opponents 296–29. Despite its 1898 success, tension existed within the team, as its assistant coach (backed by a large proportion of the players) lobbied to replace Warner. Acknowledging an issue with his leadership, Warner resigned.
=Return to Cornell
=
In 1904, after five years at Carlisle (see below), Warner returned to Cornell but his 1904 team featuring Clemson transfer
James Lynah
James Lynah (1881 – February 24, 1956) was an American businessman and sports administrator who is considered the principal founder of the Eastern College Athletic Conference. Lynah Rink is named in his honor.
Early years
Born in Charl ...
was little improved over the previous year. The following two years were better, with the 1905 team losing to undefeated champion Penn by one point. Their game
next year
"Next Year" is a song released as the last single from the third Foo Fighters (band), Foo Fighters' album ''There Is Nothing Left to Lose''.
History
A shorter version (running at just 3:21 compared to the original's 4:36) was released as a s ...
was a scoreless tie, and Cornell lost only one game that season (to
Princeton
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...
).
Carlisle
After leaving Cornell the first time, Warner became head coach of the football team at
Carlisle Indian Industrial School
The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from 1879 through 1918. It took over the historic Carlisle ...
in 1899, a flagship Indian boarding school founded to teach children and young men skills to advance in American society. Its late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century football teams were nationally prominent, and Warner was paid , an exceptionally high salary for a coach at the time.
His previous Cornell team had once faced Carlisle, and he had been impressed by his opponent's approach to the game. Since the players were outweighed by every other team in the nation, they relied on speed and agility instead of size and physical force. Despite those strengths, Cornell won the game 23 to 6. The referee was a former Cornell graduate and was accused of helping out Cornell during the game. After the match, while addressing the journalists, Warner acknowledged that there had been assistance from the referee. He stated that "We outscored 'em but we didn't defeat 'em, if you follow me. Pop Warner always made references to Bugs Bunny." It has been said that after that game he considered Carlisle to be the future of college football.
The head coach dealt with young players who differed from the white, East-Coast students with whom he had previously worked. At the beginning, he used the then-customary coaching methods of rough language and a strict routine. The Native American students were unaccustomed to such an approach, and several key players stopped attending practices. Warner adjusted his technique, saying that he "found I could get better results. I don't think I ever swore at a player from that time. Maybe I did a little cussing, now and then, but never at players."
His coaching brought immediate improvement. In 1897 and 1898, the Carlisle teams had 6–4 records. In 1899 (Warner's first year), Carlisle won nine and lost two games—to the country's two best teams:
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
and
Princeton
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...
. That year saw Carlisle's first major victory, against one of the " Big Four" teams, beating Penn 16–5. At the end of the season, the school played
Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...
at the
Polo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...
in New York City, a premier sports venue at the time, defeating them 42–0. The Columbia game was the first time that a crouching start, a form of what is now known as a three point stance, was used by the
running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball,
and block. Th ...
s. Before Warner's innovation, the stance for a back before the ball was snapped was bent forward with his feet well apart and his hands on his knees. Warner realized that if his players took a stance similar to the one taken by sprinters, the legs would be bent, the back leaning forward, with one hand on the ground and the other arm cocked back to the thigh/hip region. Like with sprinters, this similar stance maximized the speed of his players. Shortly after, it became the standard football stance for both backs and linemen.
At the end of 1899, Warner was appointed the school's athletic director and his salary more than doubled. A track-and-field program was started that year. Warner knew little about the sport; to prepare as coach he bought every book available and consulted Jack Moakley and Mike Murphy, two of the era's leading head coaches. The program was successful; running was a Native American tradition, and students from the Southwest were known for their stamina in long-distance races.
Warner's next two years were less fruitful. The 1900 football team went 6–4–1, losing three games to the Big Four, and the 1901 season was a losing one, with Carlisle posting a 5–7–1 record. The following year, the team posted an improved 8–3 record, when Warner began implementing double (lateral) passes. Carlisle's quarterback Jimmy Johnson would make a lateral pass to the halfback running towards the sideline, bringing the defense with him as he tossed the ball back to the fast-running Johnson.
In 1902, Warner played one professional football game for the
Syracuse Athletic Club
A nameless professional American football team, based in Syracuse, New York and generically known as the Syracuse Pros or Syracuse Eleven, was once thought to have joined the American Professional Football Association (now the National Football Le ...
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylv ...
. In the first professional indoor football game, Syracuse defeated the heavily favored
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
team. During the series, Warner was seriously cut on the side of his head. Although he laughed it off at first, the injury turned out to be more serious and he was replaced with Blondy Wallace for the rest of the series. For the tournament, Warner and the other team members each earned , although each player's expected share had been ; it was a financial failure.
Carlisle's 1903 season was a success, with only two losses. The 12–11 defeat by
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
is known for the "hunch-back", or " hidden-ball", play which Warner learned from Heisman; he had a tailor sew elastic bands into the waists of several players' jerseys before the game so the play could be executed. It was used during a Harvard kickoff; when the ball was caught, Carlisle formed a circle around the returner and pushed the ball up the back of the player's (altered)
jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the ...
. Carlisle then broke the huddle and spread out in different directions. Each player except the returner (who had the hidden ball) pretended to carry the football. The ruse confused the Harvard players, who scrambled to find the ball carrier, and the returner (ignored, with both hands free) ran untouched into the
end zone
The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...
. Warner's next step was a brief return to Cornell.
Back to Carlisle
After three years at Cornell, Warner returned to Carlisle. He considered his second stint there his best. From 1907 to 1914, the team won ten or more games a season five times.
During this time at Carlisle, Warner made several significant contributions to football offense, including the
body block
The Body Block, also known as the Charles Body Block and as the Old Smith Arcade, is a historic mixed-use building located on the northwest corner of the intersection of Payne Avenue and E. 55th Street in the Goodrich–Kirtland Park neighborhood ...
double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* ...
spiral
In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point.
Helices
Two major definitions of "spiral" in the American Heritage Dictionary are:1908 he introduced the technique of body blocking, instead of blocking with the shoulders.
Warner considered the 1907 Carlisle team "about as perfect a football machine as I ever sent on the field". The team posted a 10–1 record, outscored opponents 267–62 and pioneered an elegant, high-speed passing game; it was one of the first teams to regularly throw the ball deep downfield. For the first time in 11 years, Carlisle defeated
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
on the road 23–15. Carlisle also won 26–6 over Penn. In the second play of the Penn game, Hauser threw a 40-yard spiral pass, hitting his receiver in stride. At the time such a pass was stunning and unexpected, and is considered by one journalist to be an evolutionary step in the game. The 1907 season is known for Warner's first use of the single-wing formation, characterized by laterals, trap and counter runs, and passing.
According to Sally Jenkins, in her ''Sports Illustrated'' article on Carlisle:
To take advantage of the Indians' versatility Warner drew up a new offense ..."the Carlisle formation," but later it would be known as the single wing. It was predicated on one small move: Warner shifted a halfback out wide, to outflank the opposing tackle, forming something that looked like a wing. It opened up a world of possibilities. The Indians could line up as if to punt – and then throw. No one would know whether they were going to run, pass or kick. For added measure Warner taught his quarterbacks to sprint out a few yards to their left or their right, buying more time to throw. The rest of the players flooded downfield and knocked down any opponent who might be able to intercept or bat away the pass.
The 1907 team included a young
Jim Thorpe
James Francis Thorpe ( Sac and Fox (Sauk): ''Wa-Tho-Huk'', translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Native ...
, considered one of the greatest athletes who ever lived. Thorpe weighed just , light for a football player. Warner played him as a substitute, encouraging him to put his time into track and field. By 1909, Warner had Thorpe competing in track and field and he won 14 events. In 1911, Thorpe began training for the upcoming
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
, and won
gold medal
A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture.
Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have be ...
s in the
pentathlon
A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) ( gr, πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of ...
and
decathlon
The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...
at the
1912 Olympic Games
Year 191 ( CXCI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Bradua (or, less frequently, year 944 ''Ab urbe condit ...
in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...
.
Carlisle football had another standout year in
1911
A notable ongoing event was the race for the South Pole.
Events January
* January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia.
* ...
, posting an 11–1 record. Thorpe had grown to , big enough to be a starter. The team defeated
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
18–15, with Thorpe scoring all of Carlisle's field goals. Walter Camp selected Thorpe as a first-team All-American. According to one source, Thorpe was "recognized as the greatest player of the year and a man whose kicking is likely to revolutionize the game".
Warner considered the 1912 team brilliant and adaptive, and experimented with new plays and formations. In its game against Army, Warner's team introduced a wrinkle to the wing-back system. According to Francis J. Powers, author of a book that concentrated on Warner's approach to football:
Warner had both halfbacks close to the line and flanking the defensive tackles. That was the start of the double wingback offense, which enjoyed tremendous popularity until the
T formation
In American football, a T formation (frequently called the full house formation in modern usage, sometimes the Robust T) is a formation used by the offensive team in which three running backs line up in a row about five yards behind the quarter ...
was modernized with the man in
motion
In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and m ...
. The double wing became the most effective of all systems for effective forward passing since it permitted the quick release of four receivers down the field.
Carlisle dominated the next two years, with the
1912
Events January
* January 1 – The Republic of China is established.
* January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens.
* January 6
** German geophysicist Alfred ...
and 1913 teams losing only one game each. Warner's salary increased to $4,500 per season ().
In January 1913 a newspaper article revealed that Thorpe had played minor league baseball in North Carolina in the summer of 1908 with the Rocky Mount Railroaders, causing the International Olympic Committee to rescind the gold medals that he had won in the decathlon and pentathlon in the 1912 Olympics. (After Thorpe's death the medals were posthumously reinstated.) Warner denied that he knew about Thorpe playing baseball professionally, and he and Moses Friedman, the Carlisle superintendent, drafted a statement for Thorpe to sign in which Thorpe took all the blame onto himself. Steve Sheinkin, the author of ''Undefeated – Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team'', characterizes Warner's and Friedman's behavior as "scrambling to save their own hides."
"Thorpe had never tried to hide his participation in baseball. He'd told Superintendent Friedman before leaving campus in 1909, and had talked about it ever since coming back. 'I never made any secret about it.' Thorpe later said. 'I often told the boys, with the coaches listening, about things that happened while I was at Rocky Mount.' There's simply no way Pop Warner didn't know about Thorpe's summer baseball. After all they'd accomplished together, all they'd been through, this was the moment Thorpe needed Warner the most. This was Warner's chance to stand by Thorpe's side. He didn't do it. To Jim's teammates, this was nothing less than a knife to the back." Gus Welch, one of Thorpe's teammates, said, "Mr. Warner is a good football coach, but a man with no principle."
In 1914 there was an administrative change in
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, with federal money considered better spent in the
Midwest
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
than on schools like Carlisle. Many students left, and this affected the team (which had a 5–10–1 record). After that season, Warner left Carlisle to become head coach at Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh
When Warner arrived at the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...
in 1915, the 128-year-old school was on a new campus with 3,900 students. He inherited a team in good shape, full of future All-Americans, and coached the Pittsburgh Panthers to their first undefeated season. Six of their eight games (all
shutout
In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball.
Shutouts are usuall ...
s) were played at home on Forbes Field, including a 45–0 victory over
Carlisle
Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...
. Warner coached his Pitt teams to 29 straight victories, and is credited with three national championships (1915, 1916 and 1918). Coaching Pittsburgh from 1915 to 1923, he compiled a 60–12–4 record.
Although the 1915 season was a success, the next year's team was one of the greatest of Warner's career. The Panthers were again undefeated and, like the previous year, six of the eight games were shutouts. Thirty-two of their 35 players were from
Western Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...
, near Pittsburgh. The team scored 255 points, conceding 25. Warner considered the team an improvement because its defense was more dominant than the previous year's. The Panthers were the consensus national champions, and Warner became recognized as one of football's greatest coaches.
In 1917 the United States entered
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, and some players (including Andy Hastings and Jimmy Dehart) entered military service. Pittsburgh played an undefeated full season despite the war, although it was not awarded the national championship. Although the team lacked the previous year's punch, it dominated the opposition. A key aspect of its success was the opposing coaches' inability to address Warner's evolving strategies; according to Powers, "His reverse plays were a mystery, although Pop always was willing to explain them in detail to any other coach".
Faculties had to step in to stop a decisive, postseason national championship game with John Heisman's undefeated
Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
team. The game was postponed until the following season, giving Tech the 1917 national championship (the first for any
Southern
Southern may refer to:
Businesses
* China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China
* Southern Airways, defunct US airline
* Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US
* Southern Airways Express, M ...
school). On November 23, 1918 the two teams played at Pittsburgh. At the stadium where the game was to be played, the locker rooms were next to each other, with only a thin wall separating the two teams prior to the game. Heisman was first to begin an inspirational speech and it was said that he passionately described both heroes of
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cu ...
as well as the tragedy of a soldier found in his armor among the ruins of
Pompeii
Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was burie ...
. Because of Georgia Tech's players' silence the speech was crystal clear on the other side of the wall. Upon its finish Warner smiled and quietly told his players "Okay, boys. There's the speech. Now go out and knock them off." Pittsburgh defeated Georgia Tech 32–0.
The 1918 season was cut short at the end of November due to the continuing effects of World War I and the influenza pandemic. Only five games were played, and the season's final game was in Cleveland against the Naval Reserve. Warner's first loss at Pitt, it was one of the most controversial games in school history. According to Warner and several reporters covering the game, Pitt was robbed by the officials. The referees said that the timekeeper's watch was broken, ended the first half before Pitt was able to score and allowed the Reserves extra time in the fourth quarter to pull ahead, 10–9. Although he refused to acknowledge the loss, Warner's 29-game winning streak came to an end. Moon Ducote kicked the 41-yard, game-winning field goal for the Naval Reserve, and Warner called him "the greatest football player I ever saw". Despite the loss, a number of selectors named the 4–1 1918 Panthers national champion. The team was led by freshman running back Tom Davies, who averaged 150 yards per game over his four-year career.
The 1919 season began with high expectations; World War I was over, and key players had returned from service. However, things did not go Warner's way; at the beginning of the season, problems with the offensive line and on the flanks became apparent. Their first defeat was at
Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
* Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
* Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
** North Syracuse, New York
* Syracuse, Indiana
*Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, M ...
, where the
Orangemen
Orangemen or Orangewomen can refer to:
*Historically, supporters of William of Orange
*Members of the modern Orange Order (also known as Orange Institution), a Protestant fraternal organisation
*Members or supporters of the Armagh GAA Gaelic foot ...
won 20–3. The 1919 Panthers had six wins, two losses and one tie.
They were undefeated in
1920
Events January
* January 1
** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20.
** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...
, with ties against
Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
* Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
* Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
** North Syracuse, New York
* Syracuse, Indiana
*Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, M ...
1921
Events
January
* January 2
** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in Brazil.
** The Spanish liner ''Santa Isabel'' bre ...
the team's record dipped to 5–3–1, but Pitt made college football history on October 8, 1921. Harold W. Arlin announced the first live radio broadcast of a college football game in the United States from Forbes Field on KDKA, as the Panthers defeated
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...
21–13 in the annual
Backyard Brawl
The Backyard Brawl is an American college football rivalry between the University of Pittsburgh Panthers and the West Virginia University Mountaineers. The term "Backyard Brawl" has also been used to refer to college basketball games played a ...
.
Although Warner announced before the 1922 season that he was leaving to take the head-coaching position at
Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...
, he honored his contract and remained at Pitt through 1923. The 1922 team had an 8–2 record, and the season ended with the Panthers taking their first cross-country train trip to defeat Stanford 16–7 in
Palo Alto
Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto.
The city was es ...
(coached by two Pitt assistants, sent ahead by Warner).Andrew Kerr became head coach at Stanford during Warner's last two years at Pitt. Warner's final season was his worst at Pitt, as the Panthers stumbled to a 5–4 record in 1923 Pittsburgh Panthers football team, 1923. However, the Warner era ended on a high note with a 20–3 victory over Penn State on November 29.
Stanford
Football on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast had been on the rise since the late 1910s. Early in 1922, Warner signed a contract with Stanford University in which he would begin coaching in 1924 (after his contract with Pitt expired). Health concerns, a significant pay raise and the rising status of Pacific Coast football made Warner make the big change. Years later, he wrote:
I felt my health would be better on the Pacific coast. Weather conditions at Pittsburgh during the football season are rather disagreeable, and much of the late season work had to be done upon a field which was ankle deep in mud. At the close of every season I would be in poor physical condition, twice being rendered incapable of coaching while I recuperated in a hospital. Doctors advised me that the climate of the Pacific coast would be much better for a man of my age and in the work in which I was engaged.
In 1924 Stanford football team, 1924, Warner began his nine-year tenure at Stanford Cardinal football, Stanford University. When he began coaching, Stanford was one of nine teams in the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC). Warner inherited a notable squad from the previous year, including Ernie Nevers (whom Warner considered his greatest player) and All-American ends Ted Shipkey and Jim Lawson (American football), Jim Lawson.
A season highlight was the final game against Stanford's Big Game (American football), arch-rival 1924 California Golden Bears football team, California at California Memorial Stadium, the last game of the regular season. Before the game, both teams were undefeated and Stanford had not beaten California since 1905. Nevers did not play due to a broken ankle. Late in the game, California was leading 20–3; California coach Andy Smith (American football), Andy Smith, sure the game was over, began substituting regular players. Warner seized the opportunity to combine passing with the trick plays for which he was known (a fake reverse and a full spinner play, spinner), and Stanford made a comeback. The game ended in a 20–20 tie.
Because the game was California's second tie, Stanford was chosen to play in the 1925 Rose Bowl, Rose Bowl on New Year's Day against the University of Notre Dame, University of Notre Dame's 1924 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, Fighting Irish coached by Knute Rockne. Like Warner, Rockne is considered one of the greatest coaches in football history. According to journalist Allison Danzig, "With the exception of Knute Rockne of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football, Notre Dame, Pop Warner was the most publicized coach in football." The game was thus a test of two different and highly influential systems of football: "the Warner system with the Wingback (American football), wing backs, unbalanced line and gigantic power [and the] Notre Dame Box, Knute Rockne system with its rhythmic, dancing Shift (gridiron football), shift, lightning speed, balanced line and finely timed blocking". Notre Dame's offensive backfield, backfield was composed of the renowned Four Horsemen (American football), Four Horsemen. Nevers played all 60 minutes of the game, and rushed for (more yardage than the Four Horsemen combined). Warner's offense moved the ball but was unable to score, and Notre Dame won 27–10.
During the 1925 Stanford football team, 1925 season, Stanford lost just one PCC game (to Washington); California was finally defeated, 27–7. It was the first year of a new rivalry, with coach Howard Jones (American football coach), Howard Jones and the USC Trojans football, University of Southern California (USC) team. In their first game, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles Memorial Colosseum, Stanford scored twice in the first half but had to hold off the charging Trojans in a 13–9 win. Because of the loss to Washington, Warner's team was not invited to the Rose Bowl.
Stanford won all its 1926 games, crushing California 41–7 and narrowly defeating 1926 USC Trojans football team, USC 13–12. Warner's team was invited to the 1927 Rose Bowl, Rose Bowl to play 1926 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Alabama. Like the game against the Fighting Irish, Stanford dominated but the result was a 7–7 tie. After the game, both teams were recognized as national champions by a number of publications.
The 1927 Stanford football team, 1927 season was one of underachievement and ultimate success. Stanford lost its third game to non-conference 1927 Saint Mary's Gaels football team, St. Mary's College. Stanford's next loss was against non-conference Santa Clara Broncos football, Santa Clara. The game against USC was a 13-to-13 tie.
However, that year, Stanford defeated California 13–6. The game included a bootleg play, the invention of which some credit to Warner. Powers stated that,
Stanford put the game on ice in the fourth period when Pop introduced the bootlegger play, which was to be widely copied and still is in use. On the original bootlegger, Warner made use of Biff Hoffman, Biff Hoffman's tremendous hands. Hoffman would take the pass from center and then fake to another back. Keeping the ball, he would hide it behind him and run as though he had given it to a teammate. Sometimes defensive players would step out of Hoffman's path, thinking he was going to block. Hoffman "bootlegged" for the touchdown against California ...
Despite the two losses, Stanford finished the season as PCC co-champion. They were invited to the 1928 Rose Bowl against Pitt, Warner's former team now coached by protégé Jock Sutherland. Warner broke his losing Rose Bowl streak, defeating Sutherland 7–6. The win was Warner's last appearance at the Rose Bowl. In recognition of his Rose Bowl accomplishments, Warner was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2018.
The 1929 Stanford football team, 1929 season is known for Warner's regular use of the hook and lateral, a play that involves a receiver who runs a Curl (route), curl pattern, catches a short pass and immediately laterals the ball to another receiver running a crossing route. According to the October 25, 1929 ''The Stanford Daily, Stanford Daily'', "The trickiness that Pop Warner made famous in his spin plays and passing is very evident ... The Freshman, frosh have been drilling all week on fast, deceptive forward and lateral pass plays, and together with the reverses will have a widely varied attack". That season brought Warner his second straight loss to Jones, with Stanford defeated by the Trojans 7–0. USC won the conference, and went to the 1930 Rose Bowl, Rose Bowl. Jones went on to win every year thereafter, including 1932 Stanford Indians football team, 1932, Warner's last season at Stanford. Because of the five consecutive defeats, Warner was severely criticized by Stanford alumni. In all, Warner and Jones played eight games; Jones won five, Warner two and one was a tie. Against Stanford's main rival, California, Warner won five games, tied three and lost one.
Temple
Warner left Stanford for Temple University in Philadelphia, his final head-coaching job, after the 1932 season. He was paid $75,000 for five years (equivalent to $ million in ), one of the largest salaries ever offered a coach at the time. The 1934 Temple Owls football team, 1934 team was undefeated during the regular season, losing to 1934 Tulane Green Wave football team, Tulane in the 1935 Sugar Bowl, first Sugar Bowl. A star of the game was David Smukler, Dave Smukler, whom Warner considered one of his great fullbacks.
In later years Warner said he regretted his decision to leave Stanford for Temple. He left because of concern about the school's changing funding priorities. The university leadership was planning to make Stanford primarily a graduate school; because of an increase in the number of Junior college#United States, junior colleges in California, the administration saw less need for undergraduate instruction at Stanford. Because fewer students were admitted, higher grade requirements for incoming students made admission more difficult and student athletes began enrolling at USC and California instead of Stanford. Warner soon realized that he had made the wrong decision; due to the economic effects of the Great Depression, the number of applicants to Stanford decreased significantly and athletes were again admitted. Temple upset the 1938 Florida Gators football team, Florida Gators, coached by future Temple coach Josh Cody, 20–12 in Warner's last game.
San Jose State
While coaching at Temple, Warner continued living in Palo Alto (where Stanford is located). After his 1938 retirement he was immediately recruited as an advisor to Dudley DeGroot, a former center at Stanford and now the head coach at San Jose State University, San Jose State College (near Palo Alto). Officially an advisor, Warner was immediately put in charge of the offense. According to Powers, "DeGroot had been using a single back offense but Pop immediately changed to the double wing, much to the doubts of San Jose players. However, the formation began to click and San Jose not only enjoyed an undefeated season but was the highest scoring team in the nation." That year the San Jose State Spartans football, San Jose State Spartans played against College of the Pacific (University of the Pacific), College of the Pacific, coached by
Amos Alonzo Stagg
Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfiel ...
. It was the first time the two coaches had met since 1907, when Warner was coaching Carlisle and defeated Stagg's University of Chicago 18–4. Warner and DeGroot's San Jose State defeated Stagg's Pacific Tigers football, Pacific Tigers, 39–0.
Personal life
Warner married the former Tibb Lorraine Smith in Springville on June 1, 1899. He smoked Turkish Trophy cigarettes and drank Alcoholic drink, alcohol; his trainers were instructed to supply him with "cough medicine".
Warner always enjoyed painting in watercolors. According to an art exhibition review in ''The Stanford Daily'', Warner relied on painting to put him through law school at Cornell Law School, Cornell. He also had a woodworking shop in his garage.
Retirement and death
He retired from San Jose State (and coaching) in 1940. Warner died on September 7, 1954, at age 83 in Palo Alto from Head and neck cancer, throat cancer. Tibb Warner died on November 4, 1961.
Coaching legacy
For his contributions to football, the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) gave Warner its Amos Alonzo Stagg Award in 1948. His name is widely known for the Pop Warner Little Scholars program, which began in 1929 as the Junior Football Conference in Philadelphia to keep children busy and out of trouble. In 1934, soon after Warner joined Temple, he agreed to the program's renaming as the Pop Warner Conference. As of 2016, about 325,000 children between the ages of 5 and 16 are mentored.
Innovation
Andrew Kerr, who was an assistant to Warner at Pittsburgh and Stanford, said he considered Warner "the greatest creative genius in American football." Morris Bishop, a Cornell professor of history, wrote that Warner "caused more rule changes than all the other coaches combined."
Warner invented the single and double wing formations, the three-point stance, and the modern body block technique. He introduced several plays, such as the trap run, the bootleg play, bootleg, the naked reverse, and the screen pass. He was among the first to use the huddle, to Play calling system, number plays, and to teach the spiral pass and spiral punt. He improved Shoulder pads (sport), shoulder and thigh pads; and was the first to utilize adjustable fiber, rather than cotton. He also had his own helmet color-coding: red for backs and white for ends.
Coaching tree
Warner's coaching tree includes:
# Charley Bowser, a Pitt end, coached at his ''alma mater''.
# Doc Carlson, also a star in basketball, became Pitt's basketball coach and led the team to the national championship.
# Tom Davies, a back at Pitt, coached at Geneva University, Geneva and Allegheny College, Allegheny.
# James DeHart, a Pitt quarterback, became head coach at Washington and Lee Generals football, Washington and Lee and Duke Blue Devils football, Duke Universities.
# Dudley DeGroot, a center at Stanford, was the coach at San Jose State when Warner was an advisory coach. Later in his career, DeGroot was head coach of the National Football League, NFL's Washington Redskins.
# William Henry Dietz, a Carlisle tackle, coached at Washington State Cougars football, Washington State and Haskell Indian Nations University, Haskell and was the first coach of the Redskins.
# Katy Easterday, a Pitt back, coached at Waynesburg Yellow Jackets, Waynesburg.
# Albert Exendine, a Carlisle end, coached at several universities (including Georgetown Hoyas football, Georgetown).
# Skip Gougler, a Pitt back, assisted at his ''alma mater''.
# Andy Gustafson, a Pitt back, coached at Virginia Tech Hokies football, VPI.
# Joe Guyon, a Carlisle back, coached at Union College.
# Harvey Harman, a Pitt tackle, coached at Penn Quakers football, Penn and Rutgers Scarlet Knights football, Rutgers.
# James P. Herron, Pat Herron, a Pitt end, coached at Indiana Hoosiers football, Indiana and Duke Universities.
# Orville Hewitt, Pitt fullback who was an assistant at Alabama Crimson Tide football, Alabama.
# Jimmy Johnson, Carlisle quarterback, assisted at his ''alma mater''.
# Andy Kerr, Warner's assistant, coached at Colgate Raiders football, Colgate.
# Herb McCracken, a Pitt back, coached at Allegheny and Lafayette.
# George McLaren (American football), George 'Tank' McLaren, a two-time All-American, was a head coach for ten years after graduation.
# Charley Moran, a Carlisle assistant, coached at Texas A&M Aggies football, Texas A&M and Centre Colonels football, Centre.
# Frank Mount Pleasant, a Carlisle quarterback, coached at West Virginia Wesleyan and Buffalo Bulls football, Buffalo.
# Rufus B. Nalley, a Georgia back, coached at the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football, Georgia Institute of Technology.
# Ernie Nevers, a Stanford back, coached the Duluth Eskimos and History of the Chicago Cardinals, Chicago Cardinals.
#William Newman (American football), Bill Newman, center at Cornell who also assisted at Carlisle, coached at Georgetown.
# Bob Peck (American football), Bob Peck, a Pitt center, was athletic director at Culver Military Academy.
# Bemus Pierce, a Carlisle guard, coached at his ''alma mater'' and Buffalo.
#Daniel A. Reed (politician), Daniel A. Reed, a Cornell guard, coached at Cincinnati and Penn State.
# Don Robesky, Stanford guard, was a line coach at Bakersfield College.
# Eddie Rogers, a Carlisle end, coached at his ''alma mater''.
# Harry Shipkey, a Stanford player, coached freshman football at his ''alma mater''.
# Ted Shipkey, a Stanford end, coached for Arizona State Sun Devils football, Arizona State and New Mexico Lobos football, New Mexico.
# Dale Sies, a Pitt guard, coached the Rock Island Independents.
# Chuck Smalling, a Stanford fullback, assisted at Ole Miss Rebels football, Ole Miss.
# Jake Stahl (American football), Jake Stahl, a Pitt guard, coached at Duquesne Dukes football, Duquesne.
# Jock Sutherland, a Pitt end who became head coach (replacing Warner in 1924), coached Pitt for the next 14 years and later headed the Pittsburgh Steelers.
# Fred H. Swan, a Stanford guard, coached at Temple Owls football, Temple.
# Edwin Sweetland, a Cornell tackle, coached at several universities (including Kentucky Wildcats football, Kentucky and
Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
* Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
* Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
** North Syracuse, New York
* Syracuse, Indiana
*Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, M ...
).
# Tiny Thornhill, a Pitt tackle, became a coach at Stanford.
# Jim Thorpe, a Carlisle back, coached the Canton Bulldogs and was the first president of the National Football League.
# Ed Walker (American football), Ed Walker, an end at Stanford, coached at Ole Miss.
# Edgar Wingard, who assisted Warner at Carlisle, coached at Maine Black Bears football, Maine.
# Frank Wilton, a Stanford back, coached at Miami RedHawks football, Miami (Ohio).
Head coaching record
Football
See also
* List of college football coaches with 200 wins
* List of college football head coaches with non-consecutive tenure
* Pop Warner Trophy
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warner, Glenn Scobey
1871 births
1954 deaths
19th-century players of American football
American football guards
Baseball pitchers
Carlisle Indians football coaches
Cornell Big Red baseball coaches
Cornell Big Red boxers
Cornell Big Red football players
Cornell Big Red men's track and field athletes
Georgia Bulldogs football coaches
Iowa State Cyclones football coaches
Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches
San Jose State Spartans football coaches
Stanford Cardinal football coaches
Syracuse Athletic Association players
Temple Owls football coaches
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Cornell Law School alumni
People from Springville, New York
Coaches of American football from New York (state)
Players of American football from New York (state)
Boxers from New York (state)
Track and field athletes from New York (state)
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from esophageal cancer