William Wells Church (December 17, 1874 – March 28, 1966) 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 with ...

player and coach. A native of Chicago, he 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 ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, where he was selected as an All-American at tackle in 1896. He served as the head football coach at

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

for one season, in 1897, and at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

for two seasons, in 1899 and 1901, compiling a career

record of 5–3–1. Church participated in early professional football: He played tackle for the

Duquesne Country and Athletic Club The Duquesne Country and Athletic Club was a professional American football, football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1895 until 1900. The team was considered one of the best, if not the best, professional football teams in the country ...

in 1898 and the

Homestead Library & Athletic Club The Carnegie Library of Homestead is a public library founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1898. It is one of 2,509 Carnegie libraries worldwide; 1,689 built in the United States. It was the sixth library commissioned by Carnegie in the U.S. and the s ...

in 1900, also coaching the latter team. He married Mary Myrtle Brock in 1902. He later resided in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

, where he died in 1966.

College head coaching record

References

External links

* 1874 births 1966 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football tackles Georgetown Hoyas football coaches Princeton Tigers football players Duquesne Country and Athletic Club players Homestead Library & Athletic Club players Purdue Boilermakers football coaches All-American college football players Players of American football from Chicago {{Amfoot-coach-stub