 Hardage at Oklahoma | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1891-02-11)February 11, 1891 Madison, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | August 29, 1973(1973-08-29) (aged 82) Melrose, Florida, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1908–1909 | Auburn |
| 1911–1912 | Vanderbilt |
| Position | Halfback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1913 | Mercer |
| 1915–1917 | McCallie School (TN) |
| 1921 | Gordon Military College |
| 1922–1931 | Vanderbilt (backfield) |
| 1932–1934 | Oklahoma |
| 1935 | Furman (backfield) |
| 1936–1938 | Florida (backfield) |
| Baseball | |
| 1937–1939 | Florida |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 13–17–5 (college football) 35–24–1 (college baseball) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| Third-teamAll-American (1912) 4×All-Southern (1908,1909,1911,1912) 1912 All-time Vandy 2nd team One of coachDan McGugin's six best players Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame | |
Lewis Woolford Hardage (February 11, 1891 – August 29, 1973) was an American collegefootball player and college football andbaseball coach.
Hardage was anAll-Southernhalfback every year he played: 1908, 1909, 1911, and 1912—the first two forMike Donahue'sAuburn Tigers ofAuburn University and the latter two forDan McGugin'sVanderbilt Commodores ofVanderbilt University. Sportswriter and historianFuzzy Woodruff dubbed him "one of the most brilliant and famous ever to run acrosslimed lines in theSouth" and the South's "fastest back of the 1910-1920 decade."[1]
Hardage served as the head football coach atMercer University in 1913 and theUniversity of Oklahoma from 1932 to 1934, compiling a careercollege football head coaching record of 13–17–5. He was later the head baseball coach at theUniversity of Florida from 1937 to 1939, tallying a mark of 35–24–1. Hardage also had stints at the head football coach atThe McCallie School inChattanooga, Tennessee, from 1915 to 1917 and Gordon Military College—now known asGordon State College—inBarnesville, Georgia, in 1921. He spent ten seasons, from 1922 to 1931, as the backfield coach at his alma mater, Vanderbilt.
Lewis Hardage was born on February 11, 1891, inMadison, Alabama, to Monroe L., a liquor dealer, and Katherine Hardage. His father Monroe operated the Hardage Brother's Saloon in Madison.[2][3] By the time Lewis Hardage entered college, his family had moved toDecatur.[4] He was inducted into the Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.[5]
Hardage was a prominenthalfback at two different schools:Auburn University andVanderbilt University, and was selectedAll-Southern every year in which he played.
Hardage played two years forMike Donahue'sAuburn Tigers football team, from1908 to1909.[6] He weighed some 165 pounds.
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The 1908 Auburn team disputes aSouthern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) championship with theLSU Tigers, despite losing to LSU 10–2 during the season, due to charges of professionalism against LSU.[a] Amidst fears of many players being ineligible under SIAA rules most sportswriters did not include LSU for consideration as conference champions.[8]
Hardage scored threetouchdowns in the win over theMercer Baptists.
Hardage provided the only score in a 6–0 win over the previously undefeatedSewanee Tigers at West End Park inBirmingham, a 45-yardpunt return for a touchdown.[5] It was dubbed by one source Auburn's "greatest victory in many years" and "most glorious victory in a decade". In celebration, students in night gowns marched all over town accompanied by cannon crackers.[9]
Fuzzy Woodruff's account of the Sewanee game reads: "History was written when Auburn and Sewanee met in Birmingham...Auburn introduced a youthful half back, destined to become one of the most brilliant and famous ever to run across limed lines in the South. He was Lewis Hardage."[10]
He scored two touchdowns in a 44–0 win over coachJohn Heisman'sGeorgia Tech Yellow Jackets, including a 108-yard kickoff return.[5][11] Vanderbilt coach Dan McGugin selected Hardage for his All-Southern team.[8]
The 1909 team lost to Vanderbilt, and to conference championSewanee by a single point. Auburn scored against Sewanee when Lew Hardage put the ball in striking distance with a 30-yard run.Bradley Streit then went over for the touchdown.Nash Buckingham andGrantland Rice selected Hardage for their All-Southern team.
Hardage was then a two-yearletterman for coachDan McGugin'sVanderbilt Commodores football team (1911–1912).
The1911 Vanderbilt team were SIAA champions and lost one game by a single point to the only team able to score upon them, coachFielding Yost'sMichigan team.Edwin Pope'sFootball's Greatest Coaches reads "A lightning-swift backfield of Lew Hardage,Wilson Collins,Ammie Sikes, andRay Morrison pushed Vandy through 1911 with only a 9-8 loss toMichigan." TheAtlanta Constitution voted it the bestbackfield in the South.[12]
Once against Mississippi, Hardage started around left end, thenreversed right, and was again crowded out, reversing field back around left end. He seemed to break a tackle by every Mississippi player on his way to the end zone.[13]
In his senior year in1912, Vanderbilt repeated as SIAA champion and Hardage was the captain of the team.[14] He also was selected third-teamAll-American byWalter Camp, the fourth everSouthern player to get such a recognition.[15]Innis Brown in 1912 wrote "Hardage has been rated as probably the most successful man in the south at makingforward passes."[16]
Hardage scored two touchdowns in the season's first game, the biggest win in Vanderbilt history, a 105–0 defeat ofBethel.[17][b] Vanderbilt scored 100 points for the second straight week in a 100–3 win over Maryville, during which Hardage tossed a 40-yard touchdown pass.[18] He returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown against Rose Polytechnic.[19] He was injured in the season's only loss, to national champion Harvard.[20] Despite his hurt left ankle, Hardage "ran with great brilliance" in his final game, a 16–0 defeat of Sewanee to secure a southern title.[21][22]
After graduating from Vanderbilt, Hardage took several coaching jobs. His first position was as head coach of theMercer Baptists in 1913, having a rough season at 2–5–1.[23][24] He was later head coach atThe McCallie School, a boys’college-preparatory school inChattanooga, Tennessee, from 1915 to 1917, where he had a coaching record of 11–4–3. Future journalistRalph McGill was a tackle and captain on the team.
As a lieutenant, Hardage played for Barron Aviation Field duringWorld War I.[25] In 1921, Hardage took the job of the athletic director atGordon Military College.[26]
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From 1922 to 1931, Hardage returned to his alma mater, Vanderbilt, as the backfield coach for the football team. In his first season as backfield coach for Vanderbilt, the line coach wasWallace Wade, and Vanderbilt repeated as Southern champions. Hardage focused particularly on halfbackGil Reese upon his arrival,[27] and later coachedHall of Fame quarterbackBill Spears.[28] He filled assistantJosh Cody's role when Cody left to coachClemson.[28]
In 1932, Hardage was hired as the head football coach at Oklahoma,[29] where he coached for three seasons before resigning.[30][31] McGugin got him the Oklahoma job.[32]Bo Rowland was Hardage's line coach at Oklahoma.
Hardage spent the 1935 season as an assistant football coach atFurman University before moving on toFlorida where he became the backfield coach for coachJosh Cody's football team[33][34] and the head coach of the baseball team.[35] He thus coached Florida's lone All-SEC selection during this period:Walter Mayberry.
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer Baptists(Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association)(1913) | |||||||||
| 1913 | Mercer | 2–5–1 | 0–4–1 | T–16th | |||||
| Mercer: | 2–5–1 | 0–4–1 | |||||||
| Oklahoma Sooners(Big Six Conference)(1932–1934) | |||||||||
| 1932 | Oklahoma | 4–4–1 | 3–2 | T–2nd | |||||
| 1933 | Oklahoma | 4–4–1 | 3–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1934 | Oklahoma | 3–4–2 | 2–2–1 | 3rd | |||||
| Oklahoma: | 11–12–4 | 8–6–1 | |||||||
| Total: | 13–17–5 | ||||||||
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Gators(Southeastern Conference)(1937–1939) | |||||||||
| 1937 | Florida | 10–7–1 | 3–3 | T–4th | |||||
| 1938 | Florida | 14–9 | 4–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1939 | Florida | 11–8 | 4–2 | 3rd | |||||
| Florida: | 35–24–1 (.592) | 11–7 (.611) | |||||||
| Total: | 35–24–1 (.592) | ||||||||
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