John Henry "Tiger" Godfrey (August 13, 1921 – September 14, 2008) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Whittier College in Whittier, California from 1960 to 1979, compiling a record of 118–68–6. A native of Tacoma, Washington, Godfrey played

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

at the State College of Washington—now known as Washington State University—Was a guard. He first lettered in 1942 during Babe Hollingbery's final year as head coach of the Washington State Cougars. Godfrey served as an infantryman in the United States Army during World War II, in New Guinea, the Philippines, and Japan. He returned to Washington State after the war and played two more seasons for the Cougars under head coach Phil Sarboe. Godfrey was co-captain of the

1947 Washington State Cougars football team The 1947 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State College in the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) during the 1947 college football season. Phil Sarboe, in his third of five seasons as ...

and played in the Hula Bowl in 1948. Godfrey began his coaching career in 1948 as an assistant football coach at the

Punahou School Punahou School (known as Oahu College until 1934) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii. More than 3,700 students attend the school from kindergarten through twelfth grade, 12th grade. Protestant missionar ...

in Honolulu. After two years as line coach at Punahou under head coach Fritz Minuth, Godfrey was appointed head football coach at Honolulu's

Farrington High School Governor Wallace Rider Farrington High School is a public grades 9–12 high school located in the Kalihi district of Honolulu on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, United States. The school is named after the late Wallace Rider Farrington, the sixth g ...

. Godfrey spent 1951 on active military service duty and resumed coaching in 1952 as head football coach at Punahou. Godfrey returned to the Washington in 1954 as head football coach at Bellingham High School in Bellingham. He moved on to Whittier in 1957 and served as an assistant football coach under Don Coryell for three seasons before succeeding him as head coach in 1960. Godfrey died on September 14, 2008, in Tualatin, Oregon, from complications of Parkinson's disease.

Head coaching record

College football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godfrey, John 1921 births 2008 deaths American football guards Washington State Cougars football players Whittier Poets athletic directors Whittier Poets football coaches College track and field coaches in California High school football coaches in Hawaii High school football coaches in Washington (state) Whittier College faculty United States Army personnel of World War II People from Port Angeles, Washington Coaches of American football from Washington (state) Players of American football from Tacoma, Washington Deaths from Parkinson's disease in the United States Neurological disease deaths in Oregon