Herbert M. Kopf (June 25, 1901 – March 22, 1996) 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 wi ...

player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Manhattan College from 1938 to 1942 and as the head coach for the

Boston Yanks The Boston Yanks were a National Football League team based in Boston, Massachusetts, that played from 1944 to 1948. The team played its home games at Fenway Park. Any games that conflicted with the Boston Red Sox baseball schedule in the Ameri ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) from 1944 to 1946.

Playing career

A star baseball player at

New Britain High School New Britain High School is a public high school in New Britain, Connecticut, United States, part of New Britain Public Schools. New Britain High School is one of the largest high schools in the state. Notable alumni * Anita Antoinette * Steve ...

in New Britain, Connecticut, Kopf switched to football when

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries t ...

dropped its baseball program before his freshman season. A star offensive and defensive end, Kopf was a member of the 10-0 Presidents team that played in the 1922 Rose Bowl, becoming the first freshman ever to play in a Rose Bowl. As a sophomore, Kopf was selected by coach John W. Heisman to call the offensive plays and was a Walter Camp All-America selection.

Coaching career

While attending

Georgetown Law School The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

, Kopf was hired as an offensive assistant by

Lou Little Luigi "Lou Little" Piccirilli December 6, 1891 – May 28, 1979) was an American football player and coach born in Boston, Massachusetts. City of Boston, Birth Registrations, number 8583, December 6, 1891After Lou's birth, his father changed his ...

in 1925. Kopf followed Little to

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1930 where he coached the ends and backfield for eight seasons. In 1934, Columbia won the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

championship, finishing the season with a 7–1 record and a 7–0 win in the

1934 Rose Bowl The 1934 Rose Bowl, played on January 1, 1934, was an American football bowl game. It was the 20th Rose Bowl Game. The Columbia Lions defeated the Stanford Indians (now Cardinal) 7-0. Cliff Montgomery, the Columbia quarterback, was named the Rose ...

. Kopf was the head football coach at the Manhattan College from 1938 until the program ended in 1942. His career coaching record at Manhattan was 18–24–1. This ranks him second at Manhattan in total wins and fifth at Manhattan in winning percentage. Upon the conclusion of the 1942 season, Manhattan College (like many schools of the day) suspended intercollegiate football games because of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Upon completion of the war, the school decided not to reactivate the program. Kopf was the school's

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...

from 1938 to 1943. In 1944, Kopf was named head coach of the

. This job was supposed to be temporary until

Jim Crowley James Harold "Sleepy Jim" Crowley (September 10, 1902 – January 15, 1986) was an American football player and coach. He gained fame as one-fourth of the University of Notre Dame's legendary "Four Horsemen" backfield where he played halfback fr ...

returned from the Navy. However, instead of coaching the Yanks, Crowley became commissioner of the new All-America Football Conference and Kopf remained as the Yanks head coach until 1946. In his three seasons with the Yanks, Kopf had a record of 7–22–2. In 1948, Kopf was hired as an assistant under

Denny Myers Dennis Edward Myers (November 10, 1905 – May 30, 1957) was an American football player and coach. He attended the University of Iowa, where he played college football for the Hawkeyes. He then signed with the Chicago Bears of the National ...

at Boston College. Kopf was not retained by new head coach

Mike Holovak Michael Joseph Holovak (September 19, 1919 – January 27, 2008) was an American football player, coach, and executive. He played college football at Boston College, where he was an All-American at fullback in 1942. Holovak was the fifth ov ...

in 1951. Kopf's final coaching job was as an assistant to Benny Friedman at

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , ...

Later life and death

After coaching, Kopf worked as a paint salesman. He later retired to

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

where he died on March 22, 1996. He had a TV show on Saturday mornings explaining the football game that was going to be shown on TV that day.

Personal life

Kopf was the brother of

Larry Kopf William Lorenz "Larry" Kopf (November 3, 1890 – October 15, 1986) was a professional baseball player who played infielder in the Major Leagues from to . He would play for the Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Braves and Ci ...

, an infielder in the Major Leagues from 1913 to 1923. Kopf served as the Cincinnati Reds on-field messenger during his brother's time there. He was with the Reds during the

1919 World Series The 1919 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1919 season. The 16th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion Chicago White Sox against the National League champion Cincinnati Reds. ...

, made famous by the

Black Sox Scandal The Black Sox Scandal was a Major League Baseball game-fixing scandal in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for money from a gambling syndicate l ...

Head coaching record

College

NFL

References

Additional sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kopf, Herb 1901 births 1996 deaths American football ends Boston College Eagles football coaches Boston Yanks coaches Brandeis Judges football coaches Columbia Lions football coaches Georgetown Hoyas football coaches Hartford Blues players Manhattan Jaspers and Lady Jaspers athletic directors Manhattan Jaspers football coaches Washington & Jefferson Presidents football coaches Washington & Jefferson Presidents football players People from Winsted, Connecticut Sportspeople from New Britain, Connecticut Players of American football from Connecticut Players of American football from St. Petersburg, Florida