 Cravath,c. 1949 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1903-02-03)February 3, 1903 Breckenridge, Colorado, U.S. |
| Died | December 10, 1953(1953-12-10) (aged 50) Calexico, California, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1924–1926 | USC |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1927–1928 | USC (assistant) |
| 1929–1931 | Denver |
| 1932 | Chaffey (assistant) |
| 1933–1940 | USC (assistant) |
| 1941 | San Francisco |
| 1942–1950 | USC |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 74–43–9 |
| Bowls | 2–2 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 4PCC (1943–1945, 1947) | |
| Awards | |
Newell "Jeff" Cravath (February 3, 1903 – December 10, 1953) was an Americanfootball player and coach. He served as the head football coach theUniversity of Denver from 1929 to 1931, at theUniversity of San Francisco in 1941, and at theUniversity of Southern California (USC) from 1942 to 1950, compiling a careercollege football record of 74–43–9. In nine seasons under Cravath, theUSC Trojans football team compiled a 54–28–8 record, won fourPacific Coast Conference titles, and made four appearances in theRose Bowl Game. Cravath introduced theT formation to the USC program.
Cravath was born inBreckenridge, Colorado. His mother died in childbirth and his father died when he was six.[1] Cravath was raised by his maternal grandparents, Augustus K. and Kate Sikes Cravath, ofSanta Ana, California, as well as his uncle,Major League BaseballoutfielderGavvy Cravath, and grandparents inKansas. Jeff was a nickname given to him when he was very young as he was a "fighter" likeJames J. Jeffries. He was called "little Jeffries".
Cravath graduated fromSanta Ana High School inSanta Ana, California, and entered theUniversity of Southern California, starring as acenter on the football team from 1924 to 1926. Among his teammates wereJohn Wayne andWard Bond. Cravath also became aSigma Chi member at USC. In his senior year, in which he was teamcaptain, USC began itsintersectional rivalry with Notre Dame. The team finished 8–2, with losses toStanford andNotre Dame both coming by 13–12 scores.All-American teammateJesse Hibbs later noted, "I played with Jeff the year we opened the series against Notre Dame. He should have been made All-America center. That year the Notre Dame center [Bud Boeringer] made the team and Jeff completely outplayed him. He was a champ on and off the field."[2] Cravath went on to play in the January 1927East–West Shrine Game.
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Cravath served as an assistant coach underHoward Jones in 1927 and 1928. The1928 team won anational championship. Cravath next became the head coach at theUniversity of Denver from 1929 to 1931, with a record of 11–9–1, and then served one year as an assistant atChaffey College. He returned to USC as an assistant coach from 1933 to 1940, including the 1939 national championship team on which he was the line coach, and was head coach at theUniversity of San Francisco for one year in 1941, with a record of 6–4. Jones died in July 1941, with assistantSam Barry taking over the USC team for that season; but whenWorld War II began and Barry entered theNavy, he recommended Cravath for the position on a permanent basis; ;Barry returned as an assistant from 1945 to 1950. The new coach, rejected for military service due to poor eyesight, became the first USC alumnus to lead the program.
In nine seasons Cravath led USC to theRose Bowl four times, after the 1943, 1944, 1945 and 1947 campaigns. The Trojans defeatedWashington, 29–0, in the1944 Rose Bowl andTennessee, 25–0, in the1945 game, but lost toAlabama in1946 and toMichigan in 1948—USC's first losses in the Rose Bowl after eight victories. Known for their excellent defense, Cravath's 1943 team began the year with six consecutive shutouts, and his undefeated 1944 team ended the season ranked seventh in the nation. After the 1945 season, Cravath was offered a five-year contract byWashington Redskins ownerGeorge Preston Marshall, and he told acquaintances he was going to accept, but he ultimately changed his mind and signed a five-year extension with USC.[1] He signed another four-year extension in August 1949.
Cravath's players at USC includedRalph Heywood,Jim Hardy,John Ferraro,Paul Cleary, andFrank Gifford. His later teams showed a sharp decline in performance from those of the war years. USC was 11–11–4 from the third game of 1948 through 1950. His final game was a 9–7 victory over Notre Dame, his first win in six tries against USC's major rival, and also USC's 300th victory all-time. Although he had a record of 8–3–1 against crosstown rivalUCLA. The three losses were the first for USC in the series, including a 39–0 defeat in the second to last game of 1950. Cravath was also criticized for losing his last three games againstCalifornia, each by six points. He was forced to resign when the 1950 season ended with a 2–5–2 mark after beginning the year ranked 12th in the nation. He was succeeded by former USC playerJess Hill, who was an assistant under Cravath from 1946 to 1948.
Following his coaching career, Cravath became a racing official atSanta Anita Park for two winters before moving toEl Centro, California, and becoming a rancher. He also served as a technical advisor on the 1953 football filmTrouble Along the Way, starring his old teammate John Wayne. Cravath died inCalexico, California, at the age of 50, one day after suffering numerous injuries when his pickup truck collided with a dump truck; he underwent an emergencytracheotomy but never regained consciousness.[3] He was survived by his wife, Margaret "Peggy" Colegrove (1907–2010), and their two daughters, Anne (born 1930) and Carol (born 1933).
Sportswriter Braven Dyer noted, "For a man who was orphaned early in life, he grew out of rough surroundings to a point where he seemed always to know the right thing to say in public. I have known Cravath for something like 30 years. In many ways there was no better sport in the football coaching ranks than Cravath."[4] Jim Hardy said, "I would go to Cravath for advice where I would not even have gone to my family. He was a friend of all his players and a good coach. He was subjected to unreasonable pressure in his last year at SC, but he never lost his interest in the game and his deep attachment to the men who played for him."[2] Cravath was a 2005 inductee to the USC Athletic Hall of Fame.
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | AP# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver Pioneers(Rocky Mountain Conference)(1929–1931) | |||||||||
| 1929 | Denver | 5–1–1 | 4–1–1 | T–2nd | |||||
| 1930 | Denver | 5–4 | 4–3 | 4th | |||||
| 1931 | Denver | 4–6 | 3–5 | 8th | |||||
| Denver: | 14–11–1 | 11–9–1 | |||||||
| San Francisco Dons(Independent)(1941) | |||||||||
| 1941 | San Francisco | 6–4 | |||||||
| San Francisco: | 6–4 | ||||||||
| USC Trojans(Pacific Coast Conference)(1942–1950) | |||||||||
| 1942 | USC | 5–5–1 | 4–2–1 | 4th | |||||
| 1943 | USC | 8–2 | 5–0 | 1st | WRose | ||||
| 1944 | USC | 8–0–2 | 3–0–2 | 1st | WRose | 7 | |||
| 1945 | USC | 7–4 | 5–1 | 1st | LRose | 11 | |||
| 1946 | USC | 6–4 | 5–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1947 | USC | 7–2–1 | 6–0 | 1st | LRose | 8 | |||
| 1948 | USC | 6–3–1 | 4–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1949 | USC | 5–3–1 | 4–2 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1950 | USC | 2–5–2 | 1–3–2 | 7th | |||||
| USC: | 54–28–8 | 37–12–5 | |||||||
| Total: | 74–43–9 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
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