George Washington Woodruff (February 22, 1864 – March 24, 1934) was an American football player, rower, coach, teacher, lawyer and politician. He served as the head football coach at the University of Pennsylvania (1892–1901), the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (1903), and Carlisle Indian Industrial School (1905), 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 rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

record of 142–25–2. Woodruff's Penn teams of 1894, 1895, and 1897 have been recognized as national champions. Woodruff was inducted 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 vote ...

as a coach in 1963.

Playing career and education

Woodruff graduated from Yale University in 1889, where he was a member of Skull and Bones, and the University of Pennsylvania School of Law where he earned his LL.B. law degree in 1895. His football teammates at Yale included Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pudge Heffelfinger, and

Pa Corbin William Herbert "Pa" Corbin (July 20, 1864 – April 14, 1945) was an American college football player for the Yale Bulldogs football team for Yale University from 1886 to 1888, during which time the team posted a 31–0–1 record. He w ...

Coaching career

At Penn, Woodruff coached Truxtun Hare,

Carl Sheldon Williams Carl Sheldon "Cap" Williams (May 16, 1872 – November 8, 1960) was an American football player, coach, and ophthalmologist. He played college football at Oberlin College and the University of Pennsylvania during the 1890s. He returned to Penn ...

, John H. Outland, his brother

Wylie G. Woodruff Wylie Glidden Woodruff (March 4, 1866 – June 21, 1930) was an American football player and coach. He played guard at the University of Pennsylvania under his older brother, George Washington Woodruff. He was selected to the 1896 College Footbal ...

, and Charles Gelbert. In his ten years of coaching at Penn, Woodruff compiled a 124–15–2 record while his teams scored 1777 points and only gave up 88. He also coached one year each at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and Carlisle Indian Industrial School.

Political career

After coaching, Woodruff practiced law and was active in politics as a Republican. His political posts included Finance Clerk in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Attorney General, federal judge for the territory of Hawaii, chief law officer of the US Forest Service under friend and fellow Yale alumni Gifford Pinchot, Acting

Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to: * Secretary of the Interior (Mexico) * Interior Secretary of Pakistan * Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines) * United States Secretary of the Interior See also

*Interior ministry ...

under President Theodore Roosevelt.

Head coaching record

Football

Note: Before 1936, national champions were determined by historical research and retroactive ratings and polls.
1894 Poll Results = Penn:

Parke H. Davis Parke Hill Davis (July 15, 1871 – June 5, 1934)"PARKE H. DAVIS BURIED.; Many Prominent Men at Funeral of Football Authority", special to ''The New York Times'', June 9, 1934 was an American football player, coach, and historian. Shortly befo ...

, Princeton: Houlgate, Yale: Billingsley, Helms, National Championship Foundation, Parke H. Davis
1895 Poll Results = Penn: Billingsley, Helms, Houlgate, National Championship Foundation, Parke H. Davis, Yale: Parke H. Davis
1897 Poll Results = Penn: Billingsley, Helms, Houlgate, National Championship Foundation, Parke H. Davis, Yale: Parke H. Davis
George Woodruff's last game as a coach was the 1905 Carlisle-Army game after which he went to Washington for a government job. Ralph Kinney completed Carlisle's season, going 3–2 over the five games played after Woodruff's departure.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodruff, George Washington 1864 births 1934 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football guards American male rowers Carlisle Indians football coaches Illinois Fighting Illini football coaches Penn Quakers football coaches Yale Bulldogs football players Penn Quakers rowing coaches University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Pennsylvania Attorneys General United States Forest Service officials College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania