 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1864-02-22)February 22, 1864 Dimock, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | March 23, 1934(1934-03-23) (aged 70) Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Yale University University of Pennsylvania School of Law |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1885–1888 | Yale |
| 1892–1895 | Penn |
| Position | Guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1892–1901 | Penn |
| 1903 | Illinois |
| 1905 | Carlisle |
| Rowing | |
| 1892–1895 | Penn |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 142–25–2 (football) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 3national (1894–1895, 1897) | |
| College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1963 (profile) | |
| Attorney General of Pennsylvania | |
| In office January 20, 1923 – January 18, 1927 | |
| Governor | Gifford Pinchot |
| Preceded by | George E. Alter |
| Succeeded by | Thomas J. Baldrige |
| Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Territory of Hawaii | |
| In office 1909–1910 | |
| Preceded by | Seat established by 60 Stat. 322 |
| Succeeded by | Alexander George Morison Robertson |
| Personal details | |
| Party | Republican |
George Washington Woodruff (February 22, 1864 – March 23, 1934) was an Americancollege football player,rower, coach, teacher, lawyer and politician. He served as the head football coach at theUniversity of Pennsylvania (1892–1901), theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (1903), andCarlisle Indian Industrial School (1905), compiling a careercollege football record of 142–25–2. Woodruff's Penn teams of 1894, 1895, and 1897 have been recognized asnational champions. Woodruff was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1963.
Woodruff graduated fromYale University in 1889, where he was a member ofSkull and Bones,[1][2]: 65 and theUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Law, where he earned his LL.B. law degree in 1895. His football teammates at Yale includedAmos Alonzo Stagg,Pudge Heffelfinger, andPa Corbin.
At Penn, Woodruff coachedTruxtun Hare,Carl Sheldon Williams,John H. Outland, his brotherWylie G. Woodruff, and Charles Gelbert. In his ten years of coaching at Penn, Woodruff compiled a 124–15–2 record while his teams scored 1777 points and only gave up 88. He also coached one year each at theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign andCarlisle Indian Industrial School.
After coaching, Woodruff practiced law and was active in politics as aRepublican. His political posts included Finance Clerk inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania Attorney General, federal judge for the territory ofHawaii, chief law officer of theUnited States Forest Service under friend and fellow Yale alumniGifford Pinchot, and actingSecretary of the Interior under PresidentTheodore Roosevelt.[3]
Woodruff was married in 1898, to Maude Donald McBride, ofPhiladelphia, who died in 1918.[4] He was married a second time, in 1921, to Elfreda Foster, ofHarrisburg, Pennsylvania. Woodruff died on March 23, 1934, in Harrisburg, after suffering from pleurisy.[5]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn Quakers(Independent)(1892–1901) | |||||||||
| 1892 | Penn | 15–1 | |||||||
| 1893 | Penn | 12–3 | |||||||
| 1894 | Penn | 12–0 | |||||||
| 1895 | Penn | 14–0 | |||||||
| 1896 | Penn | 14–1 | |||||||
| 1897 | Penn | 15–0 | |||||||
| 1898 | Penn | 12–1 | |||||||
| 1899 | Penn | 8–3–2 | |||||||
| 1900 | Penn | 12–1 | |||||||
| 1901 | Penn | 10–5 | |||||||
| Penn: | 124–15–2 | ||||||||
| Illinois Fighting Illini(Western Conference)(1903) | |||||||||
| 1903 | Illinois | 8–6 | 1–5 | 7th | |||||
| Illinois: | 8–6 | 1–5 | |||||||
| Carlisle Indians(Independent)(1905) | |||||||||
| 1905 | Carlisle | 10–4 | |||||||
| Carlisle: | 10–4 | ||||||||
| Total: | 142–25–2 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
Note: Before 1936, national champions were determined by historical research and retroactive ratings and polls.
1894 Poll Results = Penn:Parke H. Davis, Princeton: Houlgate, Yale: Billingsley, Helms, National Championship Foundation, Parke H. Davis
1895 Poll Results = Penn: Billingsley, Helms, Houlgate, National Championship Foundation, Parke H. Davis, Yale: Parke H. Davis
1897 Poll Results = Penn: Billingsley, Helms, Houlgate, National Championship Foundation, Parke H. Davis, Yale: Parke H. Davis
George Woodruff's last game as a coach was the 1905 Carlisle-Army game after which he went to Washington for a government job. Ralph Kinney completed Carlisle's season, going 3–2 over the five games played after Woodruff's departure.
..| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Attorney General of Pennsylvania 1923–1927 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by Seat established by 60 Stat. 322 | United States District Court Judge 1909–1910 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
