 Alexander fromThe 1944 Blue Print | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1889-06-06)June 6, 1889 Mud River, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | April 23, 1950(1950-04-23) (aged 60) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1911–1912 | Georgia Tech |
| Positions | End,[1]quarterback[2] |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1920–1944 | Georgia Tech |
| Basketball | |
| 1919–1920 | Georgia Tech |
| 1921–1924 | Georgia Tech |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1920–1950 | Georgia Tech |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 134–95–15 (football) 36–38 (basketball) |
| Bowls | 3–2 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Football 1National (1928) 2SIAA (1920–1921) 3SoCon (1922, 1927–1928) 3SEC (1939, 1943–1944) | |
| Awards | |
| Football AFCA Coach of the Year (1942) Amos Alonzo Stagg Award (1947) SEC Coach of the Year (1939) | |
| College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1951 (profile) | |
William Anderson Alexander (June 6, 1889 – April 23, 1950) was an Americanfootball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at theGeorgia Institute of Technology from 1920 to 1944, compiling a record of 134–95–15. Alexander has the second most victories of any Tech football coach. Alexander's 1928Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have been recognized asnational champions by a number of selectors. Alexander was the first college football coach to place his teams in the four major post-season bowl games of the time:Sugar,Cotton,Orange andRose. His teams won three of the four bowls. The1929 Rose Bowl win, which earned his team the national championship, is the most celebrated because of the wrong-way run byCalifornia'sRoy Riegels. Alexander was also the headbasketball coach at Georgia Tech for four seasons from 1919 to 1924. He was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1951.
Alexander played football underJohn Heisman and was appointed captain of the "scrubs." In his senior year he played in the Georgia and Clemson games long enough to win a letter.[3][4] Alexander graduated from Georgia Tech in 1912 with a degree incivil engineering.Valedictorian of his class, he was also a brother ofKappa Sigma fraternity.[5][6]
"Old Aleck," as Alexander was called, succeeded John Heisman as the head coach at Georgia Tech in April 1920.[6] Alexander had been an assistant coach for Heisman and a math teacher in the classroom at Georgia Tech.[3] TheTechnique said of him:
Since Coach Alex has taken charge there is a change in the team. The youngest coach in major football, he is probably the most popular, and bids fair to prove himself the peer of them all. Not only is Coach the idol of members of the team, but of the student body as well.[6]
Alexander also had a sense of humor. Whenever he diagrammed a football play, he always drew very small "x's" to represent Georgia Tech players and very large circles to represent the opposing players.[4] As a new coach, he led Georgia Tech to threeSouthern Intercollegiate Athletic Association titles (1920,1921,1922) and its second national championship in1928.Buck Flowers andRed Barron starred on his first teams. Alexander was the first college football coach to place his teams in the four major post-season bowl games of the time:Sugar,Cotton,Orange, andRose. His teams won three of the four bowls.[3]
Describing the most spectacular play he ever saw, he cites one from the1925 game against Vanderbilt. Star backDoug Wycoff was hurt, such that he had to use his substitute Dick Wright. On a muddy field, Wright ran off tackle and dodged Vanderbilt's safetyGil Reese, "usually a sure tackler," to get the touchdown to give Tech a 7 to 0 victory.[7] Coach Alexander further recalled "The work of Douglas Wycoff againstNotre Dame two years in succession was brilliant in the extreme, as was his plunging against Penn. State when we defeated them twice."[7]
During the1927 season, Alexander instituted "the Plan." Tech and UGA had just renewed their annual rivalry game in 1925 after an eight-yearhiatus. Georgia was highly rated to start the season and justified their rating throughout the season going 9–0 in their first 9 games. Alexander's plan was to minimize injuries by benching his starters early no matter the score of every game before the UGA finale. On December 3, 1927, UGA rolled into Atlanta on the cusp of a National Title. Tech's well rested starters shut out the Bulldogs 12–0 and ended any chance of UGA's first National Title.[8]
Alexander's 1928 team would be the very first Tech team to attend a bowl game. The team had amassed a perfect 9–0 record and was invited to the1929 Rose Bowl to playCalifornia. Tech traveled by train to meet the awaiting Golden Bears. The game was a defensive struggle with the first points being scored after a Georgia Tech fumble. The loose ball was scooped up by California CenterRoy Riegels and then accidentally returned in the wrong direction. Riegels returned the ball all the way to Georgia Tech's 3 yard line. After Riegels was finally stopped by his own team, the Bears opted to punt from the end zone. The punt was blocked and converted by Tech into a safety giving Tech a 2–0 lead. Cal would score a touchdown and point after but Tech would score another touchdown to finally win the game 8–7. This victory made Tech the 10–0 undefeated national champions of the1928 college football season. It was Tech's second national title in 11 years.[8][9]
Coach Alexander found campus spirit to be particularly low during theGreat Depression. His football program and the other athletic teams had very few student fans attending the games. His football team faded in success after 1928, not posting another winning record until 1937. He helped to establish a spirit organization known as the Yellow Jacket Club in1930 to bolster student spirit.[10] The group would later become theRamblin' Reck Club.
On January 30, 1945,[12] Coach Alexander retired as head football coach but remained Georgia Tech's athletic director until his death in 1950.[13] Alexander has the second most victories of any Tech football coach.[14]
Alexander was succeeded as head coach by one of his assistants,Bobby Dodd, who became the most successful head football coach in Georgia Tech history. Dodd lionized Coach Alexander, which was later reflected in his coaching style. "He taught me to treat athletes as men, not boys - to never use their failings as an alibi for a loss," Dodd said.[3][14]
TheAlexander Memorial Coliseum (recently renamedHank McCamish Pavilion), the home arena of Georgia Tech's basketball teams, was named after him.[15]
