.jpg) Warner in 1900 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1871-04-05)April 5, 1871 Springville, New York, U.S. |
| Died | September 7, 1954(1954-09-07) (aged 83) Palo Alto, California, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1892–1894 | Cornell |
| 1902 | Syracuse Athletic Club |
| Position | Guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1895–1896 | Georgia |
| 1895–1899 | Iowa Agricultural/State |
| 1897–1898 | Cornell |
| 1899–1903 | Carlisle |
| 1904–1906 | Cornell |
| 1907–1914 | Carlisle |
| 1915–1923 | Pittsburgh |
| 1924–1932 | Stanford |
| 1933–1938 | Temple |
| 1939–1940 | San Jose State (associate) |
| Baseball | |
| 1905–1906 | Cornell |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 319–106–32 (football)[n 1] 36–15 (baseball) |
| Bowls | 1–1–2 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 4national (1915, 1916, 1918, 1926) 1SIAA (1896) 4PCC (1924, 1926–1927, 1929) | |
| Awards | |
| Amos Alonzo Stagg Award (1948) | |
| College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1951 (profile) | |
Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known asPop Warner, was an Americancollege football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his innovations are thesingle and double wing formations (precursors of the modernspread andshotgun formations[2]), thethree point stance and the bodyblocking technique.[2] Fellow pioneer coachAmos Alonzo Stagg called Warner "one of the excellent creators".[3][4] He was inducted as a coach into theCollege Football Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class in 1951.[2] He also contributed to a junior football program which became known asPop Warner Little Scholars, a popular youth American football organization.[5]
In the early 1900s, he created a premier football program at theCarlisle Indian Industrial School—a federally-funded, off-reservationAmerican Indian boarding school.[6] He also coached teams to fournational championships:Pittsburgh in1915,1916, and1918 andStanford in1926.[7] In all, he was head coach at theUniversity of Georgia (1895–1896),Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm (1895–1899),Cornell University (1897–1898 and 1904–1906),Carlisle (1899–1903 and 1907–1914), Pittsburgh (1915–1923), Stanford (1924–1932) andTemple University (1933–1938), compiling a careercollege football record of 319–106–32.[n 1] PredatingBear Bryant,Eddie Robinson, andJoe Paterno, he once had the most wins of any coach in college football history.[8]
Warner was born April 5, 1871, on a farm inSpringville, New York. He was the son of William Warner, acavalry officer in theAmerican Civil War, and schoolteacher Adaline Scobey.[9][10] In 1878 a railroad came to Springville, and four years later the family moved to a house on East Main Street.[11]
Plump as a child, Warner was sometimes known as "Butter".[11] He began playingbaseball at an early age, and was a skilledpitcher.[12] Nobody in town owned afootball; his only exposure to the new sport at a young age was with an inflated cow's bladder, and as few knew the rules, the game more resembledsoccer.[12] Warner's East Main Street house attracted a number of friends; when a neighbor told his mother that the boys' play would damage her lawn, she replied: "I'm raising boys, not grass."[12]
In 1889 at 19 years old, Warner graduated fromSpringville-Griffith Institute and joined his family in moving down toWichita Falls, Texas, to work on their newly purchased cattle and wheat ranch totaling over hundreds of acres.[13] Aside from ranching, Warner got a job assisting a tinsmith.[14] He was already interested in art as a child, learning how topaintwatercolor landscapes, and as a tinsmith he learned how to use tools to make things like cups, teapots, baking pans, and lanterns.[n 2]
In 1892, Warner returned to Springville and began to use his cowboy experience togamble onhorse races.[15] Although he had no interest in college, soon after coming back he attendedCornell Law School, as he had lost all of his money at the races.[16] Later Warner wrote "I dare not write to my father and tell him I was broke"[17]—he felt that the only way to get funds was to inform his father that he had decided to study law. His father, who had always wanted him to be a lawyer, sent him$100 (equivalent to about $3,500 in 2024).[17][18] Eventually, Warner became known as "Pop" because he was one of the oldest students atCornell.[19] Warner graduated from Cornell in 1894 and began working as an attorney inBuffalo, New York.[20] This job only lasted for a few months.[21]
On Warner's train ride toIthaca, where Cornell is located, he metCarl Johanson, thenCornell's football coach, who was impressed by Warner's weight (200 pounds).[22] Johanson practically ordered Warner to attend practice. This happened even though Warner admitted that he had never handled a real football.[22] Despite his commitment to football, at the time Warner's true passion was baseball. During one of his first practices at Cornell he badly injured his shoulder and never played serious baseball again.[23] Warner also participated intrack and field and was the school'sheavyweightboxing champion for two years.[24]
During his three years at Cornell, Warner played as aguard on the football team. Even though he graduated in the spring of 1894, he returned as a post-graduate and was namedcaptain of the1894 team, which had a 6–4–1 record.[25][n 3]
Due to the then-tradition of alumni coming back to assist their undergraduate teams inrivalry games, Cornell's coachMarshall Newell left for several weeks to assistHarvard in itsrivalry game withYale.[27] As a captain, Warner was put in charge during the coach's absence.[27] It was during this time that Warner came up with his first originalplay: Threebacks who normally protected therusher would fake a run to one side, while thequarterback kept the ball and wouldhand it to the runner, who now had an open field to run through on the other side.[27] During the first in-game execution of the play, Warnercarried the ball and was able to run clear for 25 yards. However, as Warner was a guard and not a runner, he was incorrectly holding the ball, andfumbled upon beingtackled.[27]
In the spring of 1895, Warner was asked for a reference to fill the vacant head coaching position atIowa Agricultural College, inAmes, Iowa.[n 4] Instead of giving a reference, Warner himself applied for the job and received an offer for $25 per week (equivalent to $940 in 2024).[18][28] At the same time, he decided to apply to other schools and received an offer of $34 per week (equivalent to $1,290 in 2024) from theUniversity of Georgia inAthens, Georgia.[29][n 5] Because Iowa State began its season in August—almost one and a half months prior to the beginning in Georgia—Warner was able to work out a deal. For$150 (equivalent to about $5,700 in 2024),[18] he would coach in Iowa from August until the second week of September, and then head to Georgia and begin coaching there.[28]
Ultimately, not only did Warner end up coaching at Iowa State before his time at Georgia; but while in Athens, he also received weekly updates from Iowa and sent back telegraphs with detailed advice for the following week.[31] One story recounts that in the middle of September (just before leaving for Georgia), Warner took his team north west for a previously agreed-upon game against the Butte Athletic Club ofButte, Montana.[32] Apparently overconfident, Warner bet the entire sum of his Iowa State wages—$150 (equivalent to about $5,700 in 2024)[18]—on his team's victory.[33] At halftime, his team trailed 10–2. Warner decided to enter the game, filling in at the guard position. Though this had a positive impact, it was not sufficient as his team still lost 12–10.[33] In a 1947 publication by Francis J. Powers, there is an alternate take on the causes of the Butte loss: "The game was played on a field as devoid of grass as a glacier and there was nothing green ... It was impossible for the center to snap the ball to the quarterback on the bounce or even roll it without chances for a fumble ... Whenever Iowa State threatened to score, the referee (a home towner) would make a decision which chilled the Cyclones' offense ... spectators, who followed up and down the sidelines, would whip out their six shooters and blaze away with enthusiasm, which also chilled the Iowa college boys."[34] In order to try and make up for losing all of his Iowa State wages, Warner worked out a deal where, for$30 (equivalent to about $1,100 in 2024),[18] he would stay in contact with Iowa State while at Georgia.[33]
Soon after Warner left for Georgia, Iowa State had its first official college game of the season. InEvanston, just north of Chicago,underdog Iowa State defeatedNorthwestern 36–0. AChicago Tribune headline read, "Struck by aCyclone".[35] Since then, Iowa State teams have been known as theCyclones.[36] The team finished with three wins and three losses and, like Georgia, retained Warner for the following season. In 1896, Iowa State had eight wins and two losses.[37] Despite leaving Georgia for Cornell in 1897, Warner remained head coach at Iowa State for another three years, posting winning records.[37]
In Warner'sfirst season at Georgia, he was hired at a salary of $34 per week.[29] The school was acharter member of theSouthern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA), the first athletic conference in theSouth.[38] The football team had three wins and four losses, including aloss to North Carolina from a not-yet-legalforward pass.[n 6] He was rehired at a salary of $40 per week,[29][n 7] and thenext season Georgia had one of the school's first great teams.[37][41][42] With an undefeated record, the team won its first conference title.[43][44] It also avenged the loss to North Carolina, winning 24–16, "For the first time in Southern football history the football supremacy of Virginia and North Carolina was successfully challenged."[45]
During those two years Warner also played two games againstJohn Heisman, another future coaching legend. Heisman was the head coach atAuburn University, and they faced each other in the1895 and1896 games of the "Deep South's Oldest Rivalry," an annual confrontation which has continued to the present day.[42] In 1895, theAuburn Tigers defeated the Bulldogs 12–6. The Auburn team was led byquarterbackReynolds "Tick" Tichenor, known for hispunt returns.[46] Tichenor had executed the first "hidden-ball trick" in an earlier Auburn game againstVanderbilt,[n 8] and used it again against Georgia.[48] The next year, Tichenor faced Georgia'sRichard Von Albade Gammon, a star quarterback in his first year under Warner.[41] Both quarterbacks played well and, unlike the previous year, Warner's team won 16–6.[46][n 9] The second touchdown came right after the firstonside kick in the South.[50]
After Georgia's outstanding 1896 performance, Warner returned to hisalma mater Cornell at twice his Georgia salary.[42][51] While remaining head coach atIowa State, he coached Cornell to records of 5–3–1 in1897 and 10–2 in1898;[1] in the latter season, Cornell outscored its opponents 296–29.[52] Despite its 1898 success, tension existed within the team, as its assistant coach (backed by a large proportion of the players) lobbied to replace Warner. Acknowledging an issue with his leadership, Warner resigned.[52]
In 1904, after five years at Carlisle (see below), Warner returned to Cornell but his1904 team featuring Clemson transferJames Lynah was little improved over theprevious year. The following two years were better, with the1905 team losing to undefeated championPenn by one point.[1] Their gamenext year was a scoreless tie, and Cornell lost only one game that season (toPrinceton).[53]
After leaving Cornell the first time, Warner became head coach of thefootball team atCarlisle Indian Industrial School the first Native American boarding school.[54] Its late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century football teams were nationally prominent,[55] and Warner was paid$1,200 (equivalent to about $45,000 in 2024),[18] an exceptionally high salary for a coach at the time.[56]
His previous Cornell team had once faced Carlisle, and he had been impressed by his opponent's approach to the game. Since the players were outweighed by every other team in the nation, they relied on speed and agility instead of size and physical force.[57] Despite those strengths, Cornell won the game 23 to 6. The referee was a former Cornell graduate and was accused of helping out Cornell during the game. After the match, while addressing the journalists, Warner acknowledged that there had been assistance from the referee. He stated that "We outscored 'em but we didn't defeat 'em, if you follow me."[58] It has been said that after that game he considered Carlisle to be the future of college football.[57]
The head coach dealt with young players who differed from the white, East-Coast students with whom he had previously worked. At the beginning, he used the then-customary coaching methods of rough language and a strict routine.[59] The Native American students were unaccustomed to such an approach, and several key players stopped attending practices. Warner adjusted his technique, saying that he "found I could get better results. I don't think I ever swore at a player from that time. Maybe I did a little cussing, now and then, but never at players."[60]
His coaching brought immediate improvement. In1897 and1898, the Carlisle teams had 6–4 records. In1899 (Warner's first year), Carlisle won nine and lost two games—to the country's two best teams:Harvard andPrinceton. That year saw Carlisle's first major victory, against one of the "Big Four" teams,[n 10] beatingPenn 16–5.[60] At the end of the season, the school playedColumbia at thePolo Grounds in New York City, a premier sports venue at the time, defeating them 42–0.[n 11] The Columbia game was the first time that a crouching start, a form of what is now known as athree point stance, was used by therunning backs. Before Warner's innovation, the stance for a back before the ball was snapped was bent forward with his feet well apart and his hands on his knees. Warner realized that if his players took a stance similar to the one taken bysprinters, the legs would be bent, the back leaning forward, with one hand on the ground and the other arm cocked back to the thigh/hip region. Like with sprinters, this similar stance maximized the speed of his players. Shortly after, it became the standard football stance for both backs andlinemen.[63]
At the end of 1899, Warner was appointed the school's athletic director and his salary more than doubled.[64] A track-and-field program was started that year. Warner knew little about the sport; to prepare as coach he bought every book available and consultedJack Moakley andMike Murphy, two of the era's leading head coaches.[65][66] The program was successful; running was a Native American tradition, and students from theSouthwest were known for their stamina in long-distance races.[64][67]
Warner's next two years were less fruitful. The1900 football team went 6–4–1, losing three games to the Big Four, and the1901 season was a losing one, with Carlisle posting a 5–7–1 record.[1] Thefollowing year, the team posted an improved 8–3 record,[68] when Warner began implementingdouble (lateral) passes. Carlisle's quarterbackJimmy Johnson would make a lateral pass to the halfback running towards the sideline, bringing the defense with him as he tossed the ball back to the fast-running Johnson.[56]
In 1902, Warner played one professional football game for theSyracuse Athletic Club during thefirst World Series of Football atMadison Square Garden. In the first professionalindoor football game, Syracuse defeated the heavily favoredNew York team. During the series, Warner was seriously cut on the side of his head. Although he laughed it off at first, the injury turned out to be more serious and he was replaced withBlondy Wallace for the rest of the series.[69] For the tournament, Warner and the other team members each earned$23 (equivalent to about $840 in 2024), although each player's expected share had been$300 (equivalent to about $11,000 in 2024); it was a financial failure.[70][18]
Carlisle's1903 season was a success, with only two losses.[1] The 12–11 defeat byHarvard is known for the "hunch-back", or "hidden-ball", play which Warner learned from Heisman;[71] he had a tailor sew elastic bands into the waists of several players' jerseys before the game so the play could be executed.[56] It was used during a Harvardkickoff; when the ball was caught, Carlisle formed a circle around thereturner and pushed the ball up the back of the player's (altered)jersey. Carlisle then broke thehuddle and spread out in different directions. Each player except the returner (who had the hidden ball) pretended to carry the football. The ruse confused the Harvard players, who scrambled to find the ball carrier, and the returner (ignored, with both hands free) ran untouched into theend zone.[72][73] Warner's next step was a brief return to Cornell.[53]
After three years at Cornell, Warner returned to Carlisle.[53] He considered his second stint there his best.[n 12] From1907 to1914, the team won ten or more games a season five times.[1]
During this time at Carlisle, Warner made several significant contributions to football offense, including thebody block technique and thesingle- anddouble-wingbackformations.[75] Under Warner, Carlisle quarterbackFrank Mount Pleasant andfullbackPete Hauser became two of the first regularspiral passers in football (the forward pass was legalized in 1906).[76][77][n 13] In1908 he introduced the technique of bodyblocking, instead of blocking with the shoulders.[79]
Warner considered the 1907 Carlisle team "about as perfect a football machine as I ever sent on the field".[56][n 14] The team posted a 10–1 record, outscored opponents 267–62 and pioneered an elegant, high-speed passing game; it was one of the first teams to regularly throw the ball deep downfield.[56] For the first time in 11 years, Carlisle defeatedHarvard on the road 23–15.[75] Carlisle also won 26–6 overPenn.[80] In the second play of the Penn game, Hauser threw a 40-yard spiral pass, hitting hisreceiver in stride.[56] At the time such a pass was stunning and unexpected, and is considered by one journalist to be an evolutionary step in the game.[56] The 1907 season is known for Warner's first use of the single-wing formation, characterized bylaterals,trap andcounter runs, and passing.[81]
According toSally Jenkins, in herSports Illustrated article on Carlisle:
To take advantage of the Indians' versatility Warner drew up a new offense ..."the Carlisle formation," but later it would be known as the single wing. It was predicated on one small move: Warner shifted a halfback out wide, to outflank the opposingtackle, forming something that looked like a wing. It opened up a world of possibilities. The Indians could line up as if topunt – and then throw. No one would know whether they were going to run, pass or kick. For added measure Warner taught his quarterbacks to sprint out a few yards to their left or their right, buying more time to throw. The rest of the players flooded downfield and knocked down any opponent who might be able tointercept or bat away the pass.[56]
The 1907 team included a youngJim Thorpe, considered one of the greatest athletes who ever lived.[82][83] Thorpe weighed just 155 lb (70 kg), light for a football player. Warner played him as asubstitute, encouraging him to put his time into track and field.[75] By 1909, Warner had Thorpe competing in track and field and he won 14 events. In 1911, Thorpe began training for the upcomingOlympics, and wongold medals in thepentathlon anddecathlon at the1912 Olympic Games inStockholm.[n 15]
Carlisle football had another standout year in1911, posting an 11–1 record.[1] Thorpe had grown to 180 lb (82 kg), big enough to be a starter. The team defeatedHarvard 18–15, with Thorpe scoring all of Carlisle's field goals.[85]Walter Camp selected Thorpe as a first-team All-American. According to one source, Thorpe was "recognized as the greatest player of the year and a man whose kicking is likely to revolutionize the game".[86]
Warner considered the 1912 team brilliant and adaptive, and experimented with new plays and formations. In its game against Army, Warner's team introduced a wrinkle to the wing-back system. According to Francis J. Powers, author of a book that concentrated on Warner's approach to football:
Warner had both halfbacks close to the line and flanking the defensive tackles. That was the start of the double wingback offense, which enjoyed tremendous popularity until theT formation was modernized with the man inmotion. The double wing became the most effective of all systems for effective forward passing since it permitted the quick release of four receivers down the field.[75]
Carlisle dominated the next two years, with the1912 and1913 teams losing only one game each.[1] Warner's salary increased to $4,500 per season (equivalent to $147,000 in 2024).[87][18]
In 1914 there was an administrative change inWashington, with federal money considered better spent in theMidwest than on schools like Carlisle.[75] Many students left, and this affected the team (which had a 5–10–1 record). After that season, Warner left Carlisle to become head coach at Pittsburgh.[75]
When Warner arrived at theUniversity of Pittsburgh in1915, the 128-year-old school was on a new campus with 3,900 students.[87] He inherited a team in good shape, full of future All-Americans,[87] and coached thePittsburgh Panthers to their first undefeated season. Six of their eight games (allshutouts) were played at home onForbes Field, including a 45–0 victory overCarlisle.[1] Warner coached his Pitt teams to 29 straight victories, and is credited with threenational championships (1915, 1916 and 1918).[7] Coaching Pittsburgh from 1915 to 1923, he compiled a 60–12–4 record.[88]
Although the 1915 season was a success,the next year's team was one of the greatest of Warner's career.[89] The Panthers were again undefeated and, like the previous year, six of the eight games were shutouts. Thirty-two of their 35 players were fromWestern Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh.[90] The team scored 255 points, conceding 25. Warner considered the team an improvement because its defense was more dominant than the previous year's.[90] The Panthers were the consensus national champions, and Warner became recognized as one of football's greatest coaches.[91]
In 1917 the United States enteredWorld War I, and some players (includingAndy Hastings andJimmy Dehart) entered military service.[91] Pittsburgh played an undefeatedfull season despite the war, although it was not awarded the national championship.[n 16] Although the team lacked the previous year's punch, it dominated the opposition. A key aspect of its success was the opposing coaches' inability to address Warner's evolving strategies; according to Powers, "Hisreverse plays were a mystery, although Pop always was willing to explain them in detail to any other coach".[91]
Faculties had to step in to stop a decisive, postseason national championship game with John Heisman's undefeatedGeorgia Tech team.[93] The game was postponed until the following season, giving Tech the 1917 national championship (the first for anySouthern school).[94] On November 23, 1918, the two teams played at Pittsburgh.[95] At the stadium where the game was to be played, the locker rooms were next to each other, with only a thin wall separating the two teams prior to the game. Heisman was first to begin an inspirational speech and it was said that he passionately described both heroes ofAncient Greece as well as the tragedy of a soldier found in his armor among the ruins ofPompeii. Because of Georgia Tech's players' silence the speech was crystal clear on the other side of the wall. Upon its finish Warner smiled and quietly told his players "Okay, boys. There's the speech. Now go out and knock them off." Pittsburgh defeated Georgia Tech 32–0.[95]
The1918 season was cut short at the end of November due to the continuing effects of World War I and theinfluenza pandemic.[96] Only five games were played, and the season's final game was in Cleveland against the Naval Reserve. Warner's first loss at Pitt, it was one of the most controversial games in school history.[97] According to Warner and several reporters covering the game, Pitt was robbed by theofficials.[97] The referees said that the timekeeper's watch was broken, ended the first half before Pitt was able to score and allowed the Reserves extra time in the fourth quarter to pull ahead, 10–9.[98][99] Although he refused to acknowledge the loss,[n 17] Warner's 29-game winning streak came to an end.Moon Ducote kicked the 41-yard, game-winning field goal for the Naval Reserve, and Warner called him "the greatest football player I ever saw".[100] Despite the loss, a number of selectors named the 4–1 1918 Panthers national champion.[101] The team was led by freshman running backTom Davies, who averaged 150 yards per game over his four-year career.[102][103]
The1919 season began with high expectations; World War I was over, and key players had returned from service.[104] However, things did not go Warner's way; at the beginning of the season, problems with the offensive line and on the flanks became apparent. Their first defeat was atSyracuse, where theOrangemen won 20–3. The 1919 Panthers had six wins, two losses and one tie.[105]
They were undefeated in1920, with ties againstSyracuse and undefeatedPenn State. In1921 the team's record dipped to 5–3–1,[1] but Pitt made college football history on October 8, 1921. Harold W. Arlin announced the first live radio broadcast of a college football game in the United States from Forbes Field onKDKA, as the Panthers defeatedWest Virginia 21–13 in the annualBackyard Brawl.[106]
Although Warner announced before the1922 season that he was leaving to take the head-coaching position atStanford, he honored his contract and remained at Pitt through 1923. The 1922 team had an 8–2 record,[1] and the season ended with the Panthers taking their first cross-country train trip to defeat Stanford 16–7 inPalo Alto (coached by two Pitt assistants, sent ahead by Warner).[107]Andrew Kerr became head coach at Stanford during Warner's last two years at Pitt.[107] Warner's final season was his worst at Pitt, as the Panthers stumbled to a 5–4 record in1923.[1] However, the Warner era ended on a high note with a 20–3 victory over Penn State on November 29.[108]
Football on thePacific Coast had been on the rise since the late 1910s.[n 18] Early in 1922, Warner signed a contract with Stanford University in which he would begin coaching in 1924 (after his contract with Pitt expired).[110] Health concerns, a significant pay raise and the rising status of Pacific Coast football made Warner make the big change. Years later, he wrote:
I felt my health would be better on the Pacific coast. Weather conditions at Pittsburgh during the football season are rather disagreeable, and much of the late season work had to be done upon a field which was ankle deep in mud. At the close of every season I would be in poor physical condition, twice being rendered incapable of coaching while I recuperated in a hospital. Doctors advised me that the climate of the Pacific coast would be much better for a man of my age and in the work in which I was engaged.[111]
In1924, Warner began his nine-year tenure atStanford University.[n 19] When he began coaching, Stanford was one of nine teams in thePacific Coast Conference (PCC). Warner inherited a notable squad from the previous year, includingErnie Nevers (whom Warner considered his greatest player)[107] and All-American endsTed Shipkey andJim Lawson.[113]
A season highlight was the final game against Stanford'sarch-rivalCalifornia atCalifornia Memorial Stadium, the last game of the regular season. Before the game, both teams were undefeated and Stanford had not beaten California since 1905.[n 20][113] Nevers did not play due to a broken ankle.[114] Late in the game, California was leading 20–3; California coachAndy Smith, sure the game was over, began substituting regular players.[97] Warner seized the opportunity to combine passing with thetrick plays for which he was known (a fake reverse and a fullspinner), and Stanford made a comeback. The game ended in a 20–20 tie.[97]
Because the game was California's second tie, Stanford was chosen to play in theRose Bowl on New Year's Day against theUniversity of Notre Dame'sFighting Irish coached byKnute Rockne. Like Warner, Rockne is considered one of the greatest coaches in football history. According to journalistAllison Danzig, "With the exception of Knute Rockne ofNotre Dame, Pop Warner was the most publicized coach in football."[115] The game was thus a test of two different and highly influential systems of football:[9] "the Warner system with thewing backs, unbalanced line and gigantic power [and the]Knute Rockne system with its rhythmic, dancingshift, lightning speed, balanced line and finely timed blocking".[116][117] Notre Dame'sbackfield was composed of the renownedFour Horsemen. Nevers played all 60 minutes of the game, and rushed for 114 yards, more yardage than the Four Horsemen combined.[118] Warner's offense moved the ball but was unable to score, and Notre Dame won 27–10.[119]
During the1925 season, Stanford lost just one PCC game (to Washington);[120] California was finally defeated, 27–7. It was the first year of a new rivalry, with coachHoward Jones and theUniversity of Southern California (USC) team.[n 21] In their first game, at theLos Angeles Memorial Colosseum, Stanford scored twice in the first half but had to hold off the charging Trojans in a 13–9 win. Because of the loss to Washington, Warner's team was not invited to the Rose Bowl.[120]
Stanford won all its1926 games, crushing California 41–7 and narrowly defeatingUSC 13–12.[123] Warner's team was invited to theRose Bowl to playAlabama. Like the game against the Fighting Irish, Stanford dominated but the result was a 7–7 tie.[123] After the game, both teams were recognized as national champions by a number of publications.[124][n 22]
The1927 season was one of underachievement and ultimate success. Stanford lost its third game to non-conferenceSt. Mary's College.[126] Stanford's next loss was against non-conferenceSanta Clara. The game against USC was a 13–13 tie.[126]
However, that year, Stanford defeated California 13–6. The game included abootleg play, the invention of which some credit to Warner. Powers stated that,
Stanford put the game on ice in the fourth period when Pop introduced the bootlegger play, which was to be widely copied and still is in use. On the original bootlegger, Warner made use ofBiff Hoffman's tremendous hands. Hoffman would take the pass from center and then fake to another back. Keeping the ball, he would hide it behind him and run as though he had given it to a teammate. Sometimes defensive players would step out of Hoffman's path, thinking he was going to block. Hoffman "bootlegged" for the touchdown against California ...[127]
Despite the two losses, Stanford finished the season as PCC co-champion. They were invited to the1928 Rose Bowl against Pitt, Warner's former team now coached by protégéJock Sutherland. Warner broke his losing Rose Bowl streak, defeating Sutherland 7–6.[128] The win was Warner's last appearance at the Rose Bowl.[129] In recognition of his Rose Bowl accomplishments, Warner was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2018.[130]
The1929 season is known for Warner's regular use of thehook and lateral, a play that involves a receiver who runs acurl pattern, catches a short pass and immediately laterals the ball to another receiver running acrossing route.[131] According to the October 25, 1929Stanford Daily, "The trickiness that Pop Warner made famous in his spin plays and passing is very evident ... Thefrosh have been drilling all week on fast, deceptive forward and lateral pass plays, and together with the reverses will have a widely varied attack".[132] That season brought Warner his second straight loss to Jones, with Stanford defeated by the Trojans 7–0. USC won the conference, and went to theRose Bowl.[131] Jones went on to win every year thereafter, including1932, Warner's last season at Stanford. Because of the five consecutive defeats, Warner was severely criticized by Stanford alumni.[n 23] In all, Warner and Jones played eight games; Jones won five, Warner two and one was a tie.[134] Against Stanford's main rival, California, Warner won five games, tied three and lost one.[133]
Warner left Stanford forTemple University inPhiladelphia, his final head-coaching job, after the 1932 season.[n 24] He was paid $75,000 for five years (equivalent to $1.8 million in 2024)[18], one of the largest salaries ever offered a coach at the time.[136] The1934 team was undefeated during the regular season, losing toTulane in thefirst Sugar Bowl. A star of the game wasDave Smukler, whom Warner considered one of his great fullbacks.[136]
In later years Warner said he regretted his decision to leave Stanford for Temple.[133] He left because of concern about the school's changing funding priorities. The university leadership was planning to make Stanford primarily a graduate school; because of an increase in the number ofjunior colleges in California, the administration saw less need for undergraduate instruction at Stanford.[133] Because fewer students were admitted, higher grade requirements for incoming students made admission more difficult and student athletes began enrolling at USC and California instead of Stanford. Warner soon realized that he had made the wrong decision; due to the economic effects of theGreat Depression, the number of applicants to Stanford decreased significantly and athletes were again admitted.[133] Temple upset theFlorida Gators, coached by future Temple coachJosh Cody, 20–12 in Warner's last game.[137]
While coaching at Temple, Warner continued living in Palo Alto (where Stanford is located). After his 1938 retirement he was immediately recruited as an advisor toDudley DeGroot, a former center at Stanford and now the head coach atSan Jose State College (near Palo Alto).[136] Officially an advisor, Warner was immediately put in charge of the offense. According to Powers, "DeGroot had been using a single back offense but Pop immediately changed to the double wing, much to the doubts of San Jose players. However, the formation began to click and San Jose not only enjoyed an undefeated season but was the highest scoring team in the nation."[138] That year theSan Jose State Spartans played againstCollege of the Pacific, coached byAmos Alonzo Stagg. It was the first time the two coaches had met since 1907, when Warner was coaching Carlisle and defeated Stagg's University of Chicago 18–4.[138] Warner and DeGroot's San Jose State defeated Stagg'sPacific Tigers, 39–0.[138]
Warner married the former Tibb Lorraine Smith in Springville on June 1, 1899.[139] He smoked Turkish Trophycigarettes[3] and drank so muchalcohol; his trainers were instructed to supply him with "cough medicine".[3] Warner enjoyed painting in watercolors[140][141] and used the funds from his paintings to pay for his law school education atCornell.[142] He also had awoodworking shop in his garage.[3]
Warner retired from San Jose State (and coaching) in 1940. Warner died on September 7, 1954, at age 83 in Palo Alto fromthroat cancer.[143]
For his contributions to football, theAmerican Football Coaches Association (AFCA) gave Warner itsAmos Alonzo Stagg Award in 1948.[144]
His name is widely known for thePop Warner Little Scholars program, which began in 1929 as the Junior Football Conference in Philadelphia to keep children busy and out of trouble. In 1934, soon after Warner joined Temple, he agreed to the program's renaming as the Pop Warner Conference, which still endures.[145] As of 2016, about 325,000 children between the ages of 5 and 16 are mentored.[5]
Andrew Kerr, who was an assistant to Warner at Pittsburgh and Stanford, said he considered Warner "the greatest creative genius in American football."[146]Morris Bishop, a Cornell professor of history, wrote that Warner "caused more rule changes than all the other coaches combined."[147]
Warner invented the single and double wing formations,[148][149] the three-point stance,[150] and the modern body block technique.[2][151] He introduced several plays, such as the trap run,[152] thebootleg,[127] the naked reverse,[146] and thescreen pass.[153] He was among the first to use thehuddle,[152] tonumber plays,[152] and to teach the spiral pass and spiral punt.[154][155] He improvedshoulder and thigh pads;[156] and was the first to utilize adjustable fiber, rather than cotton.[152] He also had his own helmet color-coding: red for backs and white for ends.[157]
Warner'scoaching tree includes:
Mrs. Tibb Loraie Warner, widow of Glenn (Pop) Warner, died yesterday at her home. Her age was 90.
The Pacific coast conference football season ended last week with four teams, Southern California, Stanford, California, and Oregon tied for first place.
The 1929 football championship was officially designated a four-way tie between Oregon, California, Stanford and USC.
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