Philip John Sarboe (August 22, 1911 – November 19, 1985) 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 played college football at the State College of Washington—now

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...

—and professionally in

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) with the

Boston Redskins The Washington Commanders, an American football team belonging to the National Football League (NFL), have also played as the Boston Braves, Boston Redskins, Washington Redskins, and Washington Football Team. Founded in 1932, the team has won fi ...

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ...

, and Brooklyn Dodgers. Sarboe served as the head football coach at Central Washington College of Education—now

Central Washington University Central Washington University (CWU) is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington. Founded in 1891, the university consists of four divisions: the President's Division, Business and Financial Affairs, Operations, and Academic and Student Lif ...

—from 1941 to 1942, Washington State from

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which Nuclear weapon, nuclear weapons Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been used in combat. Events Below, ...

to 1949, Humboldt State College—now

Humboldt State University California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt also known as Cal Poly Humboldt, Humboldt or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California or California State Polytechnic Universi ...

—from 1951 to 1965, and the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

in 1966, compiling a career college football record of .

Early years and college playing career

Born in

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the p ...

, Sarboe graduated from Lincoln High School in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...

, and was a three-sport athlete in the Pacific Coast Conference at the State College of Washington in Pullman — now

. On a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

scholarship from head coach Jack Friel, he also played

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

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 t ...

under head coach

Buck Bailey Arthur Buckner Bailey (June 2, 1896 – October 28, 1964) was a college baseball head coach; he led the Washington State Cougars for 32 seasons, from 1927 through 1961, except for three seasons during World War II, and had an overall record of ...

, and had his greatest success in football, most notably as a fullback under head coach Babe Hollingbery. Sarboe played in the East–West Shrine Game in January 1934. Although he had minor league offers in baseball, he chose to play professional football.

Professional playing career

Sarboe played three seasons in the

, starting with

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...

. Listed at and , he was traded that season to the

, and finished his pro career in 1936 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He completed only 42.3 percent of his passes for just 1,133 yards, had a 4–26 career touchdown to interception ratio, and a career passer rating of 27.9.

Coaching career

Sarboe began his coaching career in 1937 in southeastern Washington at Clarkston High School, then moved west to

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

in 1939. In 1941 and 1942, he coached football at

Central Washington Central Washington is a region of the U.S. state of Washington between the western and eastern parts of the state extending from the border with the Canadian province of British Columbia in the north to the border with the U.S. state of Oregon i ...

College of Education—now

—in

Ellensburg Ellensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kittitas County, Washington, United States. It is located just east of the Cascade Range near the junction of Interstate 90 and Interstate 82. The population was 18,666 at the 2020 census. and was ...

, compiling a 6–6–3 record. The 1942 team was 4–1–1 in the Washington Intercollegiate Conference and won the conference title. The program was suspended after the 1942 season due to

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 ...

, and Sarboe coached in Tacoma at Lincoln High School, his alma mater. He had planned to return to Ellensburg to coach the high school team in 1945 and then return to Central Washington when it resumed football in 1946. Hollingbery, the Cougars' head coach since

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of Viet ...

, was not brought back in

and Sarboe was hired as head coach of the Cougars in late May, the first alumnus to head the football program. In his first season in Pullman, WSC posted a 6–2–1 record, but struggled afterward; Sarboe had a record in five seasons and resigned in December 1949. Sarboe coached a season at North Central High School in

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

in 1950, then went to Humboldt State College in

Arcata, California Arcata (; Wiyot: ''Goudi’ni''; Yurok: ''Oket'oh'') is a city adjacent to the Arcata Bay (northern) portion of Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, Arcata's population was 18,857. Arcata was first ...

, where he compiled a record of in fifteen seasons. In 1966, he left to coach for a season at

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

and posted a 4–6 record. Sarboe then returned to northwest California and became a coach and athletic director at the

College of the Redwoods College of the Redwoods (CR) is a public community college with its main campus in Eureka, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and serves three counties and has two branch campuses, as well as three additional sit ...

, a junior college in

Eureka Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...

, and retired in 1977.

Death

Sarboe died of cancer at age 74 in 1985 in Spokane.

Head coaching record

College football

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarboe, Phil 1911 births 1985 deaths American football defensive backs American football fullbacks American football quarterbacks Boston Redskins players Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL) players Central Washington Wildcats football coaches Chicago Cardinals players Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine athletic directors Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football coaches Humboldt State Lumberjacks football coaches Humboldt State Lumberjacks men's basketball coaches Washington State Cougars football coaches Washington State Cougars football players College men's basketball head coaches in the United States High school football coaches in Washington (state) Sportspeople from Fairbanks, Alaska Coaches of American football from Alaska Coaches of American football from Washington (state) Players of American football from Alaska Players of American football from Tacoma, Washington Basketball coaches from Alaska Basketball coaches from Washington (state)