William H. Spaulding (May 4, 1880 – October 12, 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 of football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

. Spaulding coached at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

from 1925 to 1938. He had a successful tenure, compiling a 72–51–8 () record. He also served as the head football coach at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

from 1922 to 1924. His record there was 11–7–4 (). He succeeded the legendary football coach

Henry L. Williams Henry Lane Williams (July 26, 1869 – June 14, 1931) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the United States Military Academy in 1891 and the University of Minnesota from 1900 to 1921, compiling a care ...

. Prior to coaching at Minnesota he coached Western State Normal School (now known as Western Michigan University) from 1907 to 1921. Spaulding was the head football, basketball and baseball at Western State Normal. Spaulding attended

Wabash College Wabash College is a private liberal arts men's college in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Founded in 1832 by several Dartmouth College graduates and Midwestern leaders, it enrolls nearly 900 students. The college offers an undergraduate liberal arts cur ...

, where he played college football. In 1984, he was inducted into the Wabash College Athletic Hall of Fame.

Early years

Spaulding was born in

Melrose, Wisconsin Melrose is a village in Jackson County, Wisconsin, Jackson County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 503 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The village is located within the Melrose (town), Wisconsin, Town of Melrose. Geogr ...

, in 1880. He attended

Crawfordsville, Indiana Crawfordsville is a city in Montgomery County in west central Indiana, United States, west by northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,306. The city is the county seat of Montgomery County, the only cha ...

, where he played halfback for the football team and ran sprints for the track team. He was a member of the 1905 Wabash Little Giants football team that defeated Notre Dame. In 1906, Spaulding briefly played professional football on Willie Heston's All Stars.

Coaching and administrative career

Western State

In 1907, Spaulding was hired as the first coach and physical training director at Western State Normal School (later renamed

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

). He was the head coach of the school's football team for 15 years from 1907 to 1921, compiling a 62–25–3 () record. He is still the winningest coach in school history, though he is presently tied on the Broncos' all-time wins list with

Al Molde Al Molde (born November 15, 1943) is a former American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at University of Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls College (1971–1972), the University of Minnesota Morris ( ...

. His players at Western State included Frank Thomas who went on to be the head coach of the

Alabama Crimson Tide football The Alabama Crimson Tide football program represents the University of Alabama (variously Alabama, UA, or Bama) in the sport of American football. The team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Asso ...

team from 1931 to 1946. He was the head coach for the Western State Normal School men's basketball program from 1913 through 1922, compiling a 77–43 () record, and finishing .500 or higher in each of his nine seasons. He was also the head coach for Western State's baseball program from 1911 through 1921, compiling a 63–18–4 () record.

Minnesota

In January 1922, Spaulding was hired by the University of Minnesota to replace

as the school's head football coach. He was hired at a salary of $5,500 per year. In 1924, Spaulding's Golden Gophers stopped

Red Grange Harold Edward "Red" Grange (June 13, 1903 – January 28, 1991), nicknamed "the Galloping Ghost" and "the Wheaton Iceman", was an American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and the short-lived New York Yankees ...

and handed

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

its only defeat of the 1924 season.

UCLA

In May 1925, Spaulding was hired by the University of California Southern Branch (later renamed UCLA) as its head football coach and athletic director. He signed a five-year contract with Southern Branch at a salary of $10,000 per year. Spaulding's 1935 UCLA team was a Pacific Coast Conference co-champion and handed Stanford's "Vow Boys" team its only defeat of the 1935 season. Spaulding later described the 1935 victory over Stanford as the greatest thrill of his career. His players at UCLA included Kenny Washington and

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...

. In 11 years as UCLA's head football coach, his teams compiled a record of 72–51–8 In February 1938, Spaulding announced that he would resign as UCLA's head football coach after the 1938 season. He had also assumed the role as UCLA's athletic director and stated that he would thereafter confine himself to those duties. Spaulding remained at UCLA as athletic director from 1938 to 1947. After 22 years at UCLA, Spaulding resigned in March 1947, indicating that he intended to go into business.

Later years

Spaulding and his wife, Jess, had a son, William E. Spaulding, and three daughters, Jane, Frances, and Barbara. His wife died in 1953. He later remarried to a second wife, Eleanor. Spaulding died in 1966 at age 86 at the Elizabeth Manor Sanitarium in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. He had been ill and in "a virtual coma" for several years before his death.

Head coaching record

Football

Basketball

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spaulding, William H. 1880 births 1966 deaths Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches UCLA Bruins athletic directors UCLA Bruins football coaches Wabash Little Giants football players Western Michigan Broncos baseball coaches Western Michigan Broncos football coaches Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball coaches