Henry Russell "Red" Sanders (May 7, 1905 – August 14, 1958) was an American football player and coach. He was head coach at Vanderbilt University (1940–1942, 1946–1948) and the University of California at Los Angeles (1949–1957), 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 102–41–3 (). Sanders'

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

UCLA team was named national champions by the Coaches Poll and the Football Writers Association of America. Sanders 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 1996. Known for being witty and hard driving, Sanders used the single-wing formation at Vanderbilt and UCLA. He was the originator of the squib kick and the 4-4 defense.Bolch, Ben �
Red Sanders' impact on UCLA football has lasted well past his death, 60 years ago Tuesday
Los Angeles Times (latimes.com), August 14, 2018University of California: In Memoriam, April 1960, Henry Russell Sanders: Los Angeles. University of California (System) Academic Senate He is widely credited with coining the saying, "

Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing "Winning isn’t everything; it's the only thing" is a well-known quotation in sports. It is attributed to UCLA Bruins football coach Henry Russell ("Red") Sanders. He is on record with at least two different versions of the quotation during his ...

". When asked about the

UCLA–USC rivalry The UCLA–USC rivalry is the American collegiate athletics rivalry between the UCLA Bruins sports teams of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and USC Trojans teams of the University of Southern California (USC). Both universit ...

, Sanders said "it's not a matter of life and death, it's more important than that!" He was the first "Wizard of Westwood" before that title was attributed to UCLA Basketball coach

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as head ...

Childhood

Born in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

, Sanders spent most of his youth in Nashville, Tennessee. One of his best boyhood friends and classmates at Duncan was renowned sports writer

Fred Russell Fred Russell (August 27, 1906 – January 26, 2003) was an American sportswriter from Tennessee who served as sports editor for the ''Nashville Banner'' for 68 years (1930–1998). Beginning in the 1960s he served for nearly three decades as ...

, with whom he remained close friends his entire life.

Vanderbilt player

Sanders attended college at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He was a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

both in football and baseball. Sanders was captain of the baseball team in his senior year and a substitute quarterback on the football team. His football coach, Dan McGugin, said of him, "Red Sanders has one of the best football minds I have ever known."

Early coaching career

Josh Cody first hired Sanders as the backfield coach of the Clemson Tigers. Sanders got his first head coaching position at Riverside Military Academy, leading its 1936 team to an undefeated season. The father of

Bucky Curtis Ernest Jackson "Bucky" Curtis, Jr. was an American football player for the Vanderbilt Commodores of Vanderbilt University. He led the nation in several receiving categories in 1950 including a 29.3 yard average per reception, and was selected as ...

hired Sanders for the job. Sanders then assisted the 1938 Florida Gators, again with Cody, and the 1939 LSU Tigers.

Vanderbilt coach

Sanders had two stints as head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores, from 1940 to 1942, and then from 1946 to 1948. Between 1942 to 1946, Sanders served in the United States Navy during World War II. He had a successful career at Vanderbilt, compiling a 36–22–2 () record, the best mark by a coach while the school has been a member of the Southeastern Conference. Highlights included: *A stunning upset of #7 ranked Alabama on November 22, 1941, in a driving rainstorm in Nashville; up to that time, only the second time in Commodore history where they defeated a ranked team. *The first top-20 ranking in the school history in 1947, where the team was ranked #10 after opening the season with two wins. The team defended its ranking with a defeat of #18 Mississippi, the first time Vanderbilt played a ranked school while ranked. *An eight-game winning string to end the 1948 season, including a ranking in the final poll and a defeat of archrival Tennessee. This still stands as the second longest single-season win streak in Vanderbilt football history.

UCLA

Sanders coached the UCLA Bruins from 1949 through 1957. He was indisputably the best football coach in school history, elevating a rarely distinguished program to an elite national power with an overall record of 66–19–1 () at UCLA and earning the school its only national championship in football in

. As head coach of the Bruins, Sanders led them to four Top 10 National Rankings, three

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...

(PCC) titles, two Rose Bowls (

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

and

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

seasons) and to a 6–3 record over arch-rival

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

. Technically, UCLA should have played in three straight Rose Bowls from 1953 to 1955, but the Rose Bowl "no-repeat" rule denied UCLA's best team, and one of the finest in college football history (leading the country in both offense and defense) from confronting an undefeated Ohio State in the Rose Bowl to unify the National Championship on the field. The 1954 Bruins and 1957 Beavers were the only teams ever impacted by the rule in the Pacific Coast Conference. Sanders instituted the distinctive football uniforms worn by the Bruins when he replaced the navy blue jerseys with "powderkeg blue", added the shoulder stripe to give the impression of motion, and changed the number style from block to clarendon. Sanders said these changes also made it harder for opponents to scout his Bruins on the grainy black and white game films of the time. The 1954 Bruins compiled a 9–0 record and climbed to the top of the Coaches Poll, sharing the national championship with Ohio State, winner of the AP Poll's title. Due to the PCC's early "no repeat" rule, the undefeated Bruins were unable to compete in the Rose Bowl that season despite being the PCC champion. Second-place USC, which the Bruins defeated 34–0, played in the

1955 Rose Bowl The 1955 Rose Bowl was the 41st edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Saturday, January 1. The top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference defeated the USC Trojans of ...

instead and lost to Big Ten Conference champion and eventual co-national champion Ohio State, 20–7.

Television appearances

Sanders appeared as a contestant on the November 18, 1954 episode of the television quiz program '' You Bet Your Life'', hosted by

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...

. He appeared on '' The Jack Benny Program'' "New Years Day" 1956 episode on Sunday, January 1, 1956, preceding the

1956 Rose Bowl The 1956 Rose Bowl was the 42nd edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Monday, January 2. The Michigan State Spartans of the Big Ten Conference defeated the UCLA Bruins of the Pacific Coast C ...

to be played the next day.

Death

Shortly before the

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

season, Sanders died suddenly of a heart attack in a Los Angeles hotel room on August 14. His companion was a convicted prostitute, Ernestine Drake, described as a "blonde woman."Red Sanders Ruled Victim of Athlete's Heart
Express and News from San Antonio, Texas, August 16, 1958 · Page 19 The room was registered in the name of his friend, W.T. "Pop" Grimes, who had a record of arrests for pandering and had served prison time at San Quentin. Sanders had complained of the heat, and asked Grimes to fetch some soft drinks. He then began gasping for breath and clutching his chest. He died on the floor. His last words to Drake were, "Football is a great game. You should come out this fall and see a few games." Los Angeles

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

Theodore Curphey said Sanders' heart weighed 500 grams, whereas the normal size for an inactive male is 300–400 grams, meaning that Sanders suffered from an

enlarged heart Cardiomegaly (sometimes megacardia or megalocardia) is a medical condition in which the heart is enlarged. As such, it is more commonly referred to simply as "having an enlarged heart". It is usually the result of underlying conditions that make t ...

. Sanders' assistant

George W. Dickerson George W. Dickerson (January 27, 1913 – January 22, 2002) was an American college football coach at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). An assistant coach with the Bruins from 1947 to 1957, he was the interim head coach for the ...

succeeded him on interim basis to for first three games of the Bruins' 1958 season, before suffering a nervous breakdown. He was succeeded by assistant Bill Barnes, who led UCLA to a record in seven seasons (1958–

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

Personal life

He was Commander in the U.S. Navy during his service in World War II. At the end of the war, he met and married the former Anna "Ann" Daniel, of Lakeland, Florida. Ann was a graduate of

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

and a holder of a Master's degree from the University of North Carolina. Ann died on November 23, 1999.

Quotes

Winning isn't every thing, it's the only thing

Sanders actually spoke two different versions of the quote. In 1950, at a

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (California Polytechnic State University, Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata, California or California State Polytechnic Univ ...

physical education workshop, Sanders told his group: "Men, I'll be honest. Winning isn't everything. (Long pause.) Men, it's the only thing!" In 1955, in a '' Sports Illustrated'' article preceding the

, he was quoted as saying "Sure, winning isn't every thing, It's the only thing." The quote has since been erroneously attributed to Vince Lombardi as the originator.

Beating 'SC is not a matter of life or death, It's more important than that

While at UCLA, another famous quote was attributed to Sanders regarding the

, "Beating 'SC is not a matter of life or death, it's more important than that."Burke, Anne (Editor) �
Summer 2004 Bruin Walk: Rah-rah Boo-hiss
UCLA Magazine, summer 2004

Personal awards

*1946 Blue-Gray Game, Montgomery, Alabama, Coach *1951

East–West Shrine Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

, San Francisco, Coach *1952

College All-Star Game The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game was a preseason American football game played from 1934 to 1976 between the National Football League (NFL) champions and a team of star college seniors from the previous year. It was also known as the C ...

, Chicago, Coach *1952

North–South Shrine Game The North–South Shrine Game was an annual postseason college football all-star game played each December from 1948 to 1973 in Miami, and a final time in 1976 in Pontiac, Michigan. The game was sponsored by the fraternal group Shriners Interna ...

, Miami, Coach *1953, 1954, and 1957 Football Coach of the Year – Los Angeles Times National Sports Awards Dinner *1954 Coach of the Year – National Collegiate Football Coaches' Association and the Touchdown Club of Washington, D.C. *1959 Bronze plaque at the Los Angeles Coliseum *1984 UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame (Charter Member) *1994 Rose Bowl Hall of Fame *1996 College Football Hall of Fame

Head coaching record

References

Bibliography

* Adam Karon
Red Scare
''The Daily Bruin'', January 20, 2000.

''Time'', August 25, 1958. *UCLA Bruins football media guide (PDF copy available a
www.uclabruins.com
*Vanderbilt Commodores football media guide (PDF copy available a
www.vucommodores.com
*Rose, Adam �

Los Angeles Times Blogs, "What's Bruin?", August 13, 2007

External links

* *
University of California Digital Library
Henry Russell Sanders: Los Angeles {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Red 1905 births 1958 deaths Clemson Tigers football coaches Florida Gators football coaches LSU Tigers football coaches UCLA Bruins football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores athletic directors Vanderbilt Commodores baseball players Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores football players High school football coaches in Georgia (U.S. state) College Football Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Asheville, North Carolina Coaches of American football from Tennessee Players of American football from Nashville, Tennessee Baseball players from Nashville, Tennessee