George Sanford (American football)
Biographical details | |
---|---|
Born | Ashland, New York, U.S. | June 4, 1870
Died | May 23, 1938 New York, New York, U.S. | (aged 67)
Playing career | |
1891–1895 | Yale |
Position(s) | Center |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1896 | Cornell |
1897–1898 | Yale (assistant) |
1899–1901 | Columbia |
1903 | Yale (assistant) |
1904 | Virginia |
1905 | Yale (assistant) |
1910–1912 | Yale (assistant) |
1913–1923 | Rutgers |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 84–46–6 |
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1971 (profile) |
George Foster "Sandy" Sanford (June 4, 1870 – May 23, 1938) was an American
Playing career
Sanford started at center on the 1891 Yale Bulldogs football team and left guard on the 1892 team, but missed the final three games of the latter season due to a broken ankle.[2][3] He graduated from Sheffield Scientific School in 1893, but was allowed to stay on the football team due to a rule change that allowed graduate students (Sanford was attending Yale Law School) to play college football.[2] Sanford was also a member of the Yale track team and in 1894 competed in the Yale-Oxford games in England and the Amateur Athletic Union Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Travers Island, New York.[4][5] He was declared ineligible for the 1895 football season finale against Princeton because he did not register as a student before that year's deadline.[6] He graduated from Yale Law School in 1896, but passed on a legal career to go into coaching.[1]
Coaching
Sanford began his coaching career at in 1896 at Cornell.[7][8][9] He assisted Yale during the 1897 and 1888 seasons.[10][11] In 1899, he became the first paid coach at Columbia University, receiving $5,000 a year.[12][13] He was let go in 1902 in favor of Bill Morley.[14] He spent that year out of football, instead working in the locomotive business in Chicago.[15] He helped coach Yale during the final three weeks of the 1903 season.[16] In 1904, he was the head coach at the University of Virginia.[13] In 1905, 1910, 1911, and 1912, he assisted at Yale when it did not interfere with his business commitments.[17][18][19][20]
From 1913 to 1923, Sanford was the head coach at Rutgers University.[1] His 1915 scored more points than any other eastern college football team.[21] Sanford's players at Rutgers included Paul Robeson and Homer Hazel.[1] After his retirement from coaching, Sanford remained involved with the football program as an advisor to his successor, John Wallace.[1] Throughout his time at Rutgers, Sanford did not collect a salary and worked full time as an insurance broker in New York City.[22]
Later life
After retiring from coaching, Sanford was president of the insurance brokerage firm of Smyth, Sanford & Gerard, Inc. in
Head coaching record
Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cornell Big Red (Independent) (1896) | |||||||||
1896 | Cornell | 5–3–1 | |||||||
Cornell: | 5–3–1 | ||||||||
Columbia Blue and White (Independent) (1899–1901) | |||||||||
1899 | Columbia | 8–3 | |||||||
1900 | Columbia | 6–3–1 | |||||||
1901 | Columbia | 8–5 | |||||||
Columbia: | 22–11–1 | ||||||||
Virginia Orange and Blue (Independent) (1904) | |||||||||
1904 | Virginia | 6–3 | |||||||
Virginia: | 6–3 | ||||||||
Rutgers Queensmen (Independent) (1904) | |||||||||
1913 | Rutgers | 6–3 | |||||||
1914 | Rutgers | 5–3–1 | |||||||
1915 | Rutgers | 7–1 | |||||||
1916 | Rutgers | 3–2–2 | |||||||
1917 | Rutgers | 7–1–1 | |||||||
1918 | Rutgers | 5–2 | |||||||
1919 | Rutgers | 5–3 | |||||||
1920 | Rutgers | 2–7 | |||||||
1921 | Rutgers | 4–5 | |||||||
1922 | Rutgers | 5–4 | |||||||
1923 | Rutgers | 7–1–1 | |||||||
Rutgers: | 56–32–5 | ||||||||
Total: | 89–49–7 |
References
- ^ New York Times. May 24, 1938. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
- ^ a b "Sanford and Graves Eligible". The New York Times. October 29, 1893.
- ^ "More Bad Luck For Yale". The New York Times. November 8, 1892.
- ^ "Seeing the Yale Men Off". The New York Times. June 21, 1894.
- ^ "Entries for the Championships". The New York Times. September 11, 1894.
- ^ "Sanford is Ineligible". The Boston Globe. October 30, 1895.
- ^ "How Yale Will Line Up". The Morning Record. November 19, 1896. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "Cornell's Football Team: It Will Be Light This Season, but Contain Lively Players". The New York Times. September 25, 1896.
- ^ Patterson, Chas. E. (November 14, 1896). "Afield and Afloat". The Illustrated American. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "Yale's Steady Improvement". The Evening Telegraph. November 5, 1897. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "Yale Coaches Confident". The Evening Telegraph. October 1, 1898. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "Name Four Coaches". The Robesonian. March 10, 1971. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ a b "Football Talk College Gossip". The Meriden Daily Journal. September 30, 1904. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "Sanford Out of Columbia". The New York Times. February 7, 1902.
- ^ "Approach of Football Season". The New York Times. September 21, 1902.
- ^ "Yale May Make a Change". Boston Evening Transcript. November 2, 1903. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "Yale Outlook Now Brighter". Boston Evening Transcript. September 23, 1905. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "Wants Changes In Football Rules". Spokane Daily Chronicle. December 2, 1910. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "Sanford Stiffens Yale's Defense". The New York Times. October 25, 1911.
- ^ "Old Yale Men Swarm on Football Field". The New York Times. October 29, 1912.
- ^ Menke, Frank (December 23, 1915). "Sport Budget". Evening Tribune. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
- ^ Evans, Billy (January 31, 1922). "Sanford Coaches Rutgers For Eight Years Without Receiving A Cent". The Toledo News-Bee. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "N.Y.U. Freshmen Blanked". The New York Times. May 10, 1925.
- ^ "Sixteen Get Varsity Letters And Gold Footballs at Penn". The New York Times. December 11, 1926.
- ^ "Penn Holds an Outdoor Meet In Snow; Sanford Is a Victor". The New York Times. January 29, 1928.
- ^ "University Leaders: University of Pennsylvania Trustees, 1749-present". Penn Libraries. University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 19 March 2024.