 Stagg in 1889 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1862-08-16)August 16, 1862 West Orange, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | March 17, 1965(1965-03-17) (aged 102) Stockton, California, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1885–1889 | Yale |
| 1890–1891 | Springfield YMCA |
| 1892 | Chicago |
| Position(s) | End,fullback,halfback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1890–1891 | Williston Seminary (MA) |
| 1890–1891 | Springfield YMCA |
| 1892–1932 | Chicago |
| 1933–1946 | Pacific (CA) |
| 1947–1952 | Susquehanna (associate HC) |
| 1953–1958 | Stockton (ST) |
| Basketball | |
| 1920–1921 | Chicago |
| Baseball | |
| 1893–1905 | Chicago |
| 1907–1913 | Chicago |
| Track | |
| 1896–1913 | Chicago |
| 1914–1928 | Chicago |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1892–1933 | Chicago |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 314–99–35 (college football) 14–6 (college basketball) 266–166–3 (college baseball) |
| Bowls | 0–1 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
2national (1905, 1913)
| |
| Awards | |
AFCA Coach of the Year (1943) | |
| College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1951 (profile) | |
| Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 1959 (profile) | |
Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarilyAmerican football.[1][2] He served as the head football coach at the InternationalYMCA Training School (now calledSpringfield College) (1890–1891), theUniversity of Chicago (1892–1932), and theCollege of the Pacific (1933–1946), compiling a careercollege football record of 314–199–35 (.605). His undefeatedChicago Maroons teams of1905 and1913 were recognized asnational champions. He was also the headbasketball coach for one season at Chicago (1920–1921), and the Maroons' headbaseball coach for twenty seasons (1893–1905, 1907–1913).
At Chicago, Stagg also instituted an annual prep basketball tournament and track meet. Both drew the top high school teams and athletes from around the United States.
Stagg played football as anend atYale University and was selected to the firstAll-America Team in1889. He was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach in the charter class of 1951 and was the only individual honored in both roles until the 1990s. Influential in other sports, Stagg developed basketball as a five-player sport. This five-man concept allowed his 10 (later 11) man football team the ability to compete with each other and to stay in shape over the winter. Stagg was elected to theBasketball Hall of Fame in its first group of inductees in 1959, and was elected Fellow #71 in the National Academy of Kinesiology (formerly American Academy of Physical Education) in 1946.[3]
Stagg also forged a bond between sports and religious faith early in his career that remained important to him for the rest of his life.[4]
Stagg was born in a poorIrish neighborhood ofWest Orange, New Jersey, and attendedPhillips Exeter Academy.[5][6]
Stagg entered Yale University in 1884 and received his bachelor's degree in 1888. He spent two additional years at Yale studying in the Divinity School underWilliam Rainey Harper before deciding he could have more influence on young men through coaching than through the pulpit. He was very active in the Yale YMCA where he served as general secretary during his last two years.
Stagg was apitcher atYale; he declined the offers to play for six different professional baseball teams.[5] He nonetheless influenced the game through his invention of thebatting cage.[7]
Stagg played on the1888 team, and was an end on the firstAll-America Team in1889.
Stagg later gave up his desire for the ministry and decided to become a coach and athletic director. He spent two years at the International YMCA Training School, now known asSpringfield College, from 1890 to 1892.[8]
Basketball had been invented in 1891 byJames Naismith, a teacher at the YMCA School in Springfield. On March 11, 1892, Stagg, still an instructor at the YMCA School, played in the first public game of basketball. A crowd of 200 watched as the student team defeated the faculty, 5–1. Stagg scored the only basket for the losing side. He popularized the five-player lineup on basketball teams.[9]
Stagg became the first paid football coach atWilliston Seminary, asecondary school, in 1890. This was also Stagg's first time receiving pay to coach football. He coached there one day a week while also coaching full-time at the International YMCA Training School.[10] Stagg then coached at theUniversity of Chicago from 1892 to 1932.[11] He was the head football coach and director of the Department of Physical Culture.[12] Eventually, university presidentRobert Maynard Hutchins forced out the 70-year-old Stagg, feeling that he was too old to continue coaching.[13][14]
At age 70, Stagg moved on to theCollege of the Pacific inStockton, California,[11] where he led theTigers for 14 seasons, from 1933 through 1946, then was asked to resign.[15] One of his players at Pacific in 1945-46 was Hall of Fame coach of Navy and TempleWayne Hardin.
In the1924 Summer Olympics inParis, Stagg served as a coach with theU.S. Olympic Track and Field team. He played himself in the movieKnute Rockne, All American, released in 1940. From 1947 to 1952 he served as co-coach with his son,Amos Jr., atSusquehanna University in Pennsylvania. Stagg's final job was as kicking coach at the local junior college in Stockton, California, which was then known asStockton College. "The Grand Old Man of Football" retired from Stockton College at the age of 96 and died in Stockton six years later.[2][16]
Stagg was reportedly an activist forvegetarianism and banned his players from using alcohol and tobacco.[12][17] In 1907, he trained his Chicago football team on a strict vegetarian diet.[12] This was widely reported in newspapers and vegetarian literature.[18][19][20]Stagg had spent time at the vegetarianBattle Creek Sanitarium in 1907 and was inspired byJohn Harvey Kellogg's vegetarian diet. Although Stagg was cited in vegetarian literature as advocating a strict vegetarian diet throughout his life, in his memoir he stated that he was a vegetarian for only two years and did it in an attempt to relieve his chronicsciatic pain.[17] Stagg did not consume alcohol, coffee, or cigarettes and promoted the consumption of vegetables over red meat.[17]
Stagg was married to the former Stella Robertson on September 10, 1894.[11] The couple had three children: two sons,Amos Jr. andPaul, and a daughter, Ruth. Both sons played for the elder Stagg asquarterbacks at the University of Chicago and each later coached college football. In 1952, Barbara Stagg, Amos' granddaughter, started coaching the high school girls'basketball team forNorthern Lehigh High School inSlatington, Pennsylvania.
Two high schools in the United States,one inPalos Hills, Illinois, and theother inStockton, California, and an elementary school inChicago,Illinois, are named after Stagg.[21][22][23] TheNCAA Division III National Football Championship game, played inSalem, Virginia, is named the Stagg Bowl after him.[7] The athletic stadium atSpringfield College is namedStagg Field.[24] The football field atSusquehanna University is named Amos Alonzo Stagg Field in honor of both Stagg Sr. and Jr.[25] Stagg was also the namesake of the University of Chicago's oldStagg Field.[26] AtUniversity of the Pacific inStockton, California, one of the campus streets is known as Stagg Way and Pacific Memorial Stadium, the school's football and soccer stadium, was renamedAmos Alonzo Stagg Memorial Stadium on October 15, 1988.[27]Phillips Exeter Academy also has a field named for him and a statue.[28] A field inWest Orange, New Jersey on Saint Cloud Avenue is also named for him.[29] TheAmos Alonzo Stagg Award is awarded annually to the "individual, group, or institution whose services have been outstanding in the advancement of the best interests of football."[30] The winner of theBig Ten Football Championship Game, started in 2011, receives theStagg Championship Trophy, named in his honor.[31]
At theCollege of William and Mary, the Amos Alonzo Stagg Society was organized during 1979–1980 by students and faculty opposed to a plan by the institution's Board of Visitors to move William and Mary back into big-time college football several decades after a scandal there involving grade changes for football players. The Society was loosely organized but successful in combating, among other plans, a major expansion of the William and Mary football stadium.
Collections of Amos Alonzo Stagg's papers are held at the University of Chicago Library, Special Collections Research Center and at the University of the Pacific Library, Holt Atherton Department of Special Collections.[32][33] The Alonzo Stagg 50/20 Hike goes throughArlington, Virginia,Washington, DC andMaryland.[34]
TheStagg Tree, a giant sequoia in theAlder Creek Grove and the fifth largest tree in the world, is named in honor of Amos Alonzo Stagg. Stagg is also an elected Fellow in the National Academy of Kinesiology (née the American Academy of Physical Education).[3]
The Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, otherwise known as theNCAA Division III Football Championship Game since 1973, is competed annually as the final game of the NCAA Division III Football Tournament. The Stagg Bowl can be traced back to 1969, prior to the inception of the D-III national championship. At that time—from 1969 to 1973—the Stagg Bowl was one of two bowls competed at the College Division level—theKnute Rockne Bowl and the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl. In 1973, the NCAA instituted the D-III national championship, and the Stagg Bowl was adopted as the moniker for that game.
The first 10 Stagg Bowls were played in Phenix City, Alabama, from 1973 to 1982. Wittenberg University (Ohio) won the inaugural game via a 41–0 result over Juniata College (Pa.). The game moved to Kings Island, Ohio, for the 1983 and 1984 editions, with Augustana College (Ill.) winning the first two of its four straight NCAA titles.
The Stagg Bowl returned to Phenix City for five more years, before spending three seasons in Bradenton, Florida.
In 1993, the Stagg Bowl moved to Salem, Va., where it remained until 2017.[35] TheUniversity of Mount Union (formerly Mount Union College) won the first of its NCAA Division III-record 13 football national championships in 1993.[36] The Championship was held in Shenandoah, TX, in 2018 and 2019.[37]
Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium at Hall of Fame Village powered byJohnson Controls inCanton, Ohio, was originally awarded the 2020 and 2021 Stagg Bowls; however, the 2020 Championship was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[38] The 2021 Stagg Bowl was held atTom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium December 2–4, 2021.[39]
Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium inAnnapolis, Maryland hosted the 2022 Stagg Bowl,[40] whereNorth Central College defeatedUniversity of Mount Union. In 2023,Salem Football Stadium inSalem, Virginia was awarded the game.
The following is a list of innovations Stagg introduced to American football. Where known, the year of its first use is annotated in parentheses. Stagg is noted as a 'contributor' if he was one of a group of individuals responsible for a given innovation.
In addition to Stagg's championships and innovations, another aspect of his legacy is in his players and assistant coaches who went on to become head football and basketball coaches at other colleges and universities across the countries.
Played under:
Assistant coaches who became head coaches:
Former players who went on to become head coaches
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | AP# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Springfield YMCA(Independent)(1890–1891) | |||||||||
| 1890 | Springfield YMCA | 5–3 | |||||||
| 1891 | Springfield YMCA | 5–8–1 | |||||||
| Springfield YMCA: | 10–11–1 | ||||||||
| Chicago Maroons(Independent)(1892–1895) | |||||||||
| 1892 | Chicago | 1–4–2 | |||||||
| 1893 | Chicago | 6–4–2 | |||||||
| 1894 | Chicago | 11–7–1 | |||||||
| 1895 | Chicago | 7–3 | |||||||
| Chicago Maroons(Western Conference / Big Ten Conference)(1896–1932) | |||||||||
| 1896 | Chicago | 11–2–1 | 3–2 | 4th | |||||
| 1897 | Chicago | 8–1 | 3–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1898 | Chicago | 9–2–1 | 3–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1899 | Chicago | 12–0–2 | 4–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1900 | Chicago | 7–5–1 | 2–3–1 | 6th | |||||
| 1901 | Chicago | 5–5–2 | 0–4–1 | 9th | |||||
| 1902 | Chicago | 11–1 | 5–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1903 | Chicago | 10–2–1 | 4–1 | 4th | |||||
| 1904 | Chicago | 8–1–1 | 5–1–1 | 3rd | |||||
| 1905 | Chicago | 11–0 | 7–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1906 | Chicago | 4–1 | 3–1 | 4th | |||||
| 1907 | Chicago | 4–1 | 4–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1908 | Chicago | 5–0–1 | 5–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1909 | Chicago | 4–1–2 | 4–1–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1910 | Chicago | 2–5 | 2–4 | T–5th | |||||
| 1911 | Chicago | 6–1 | 5–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1912 | Chicago | 6–1 | 6–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1913 | Chicago | 7–0 | 7–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1914 | Chicago | 4–2–1 | 4–2–1 | 7th | |||||
| 1915 | Chicago | 5–2 | 4–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1916 | Chicago | 3–4 | 3–3 | 5th | |||||
| 1917 | Chicago | 3–2–1 | 2–2–1 | 5th | |||||
| 1918 | Chicago | 0–6 | 0–5 | 10th | |||||
| 1919 | Chicago | 5–2 | 4–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1920 | Chicago | 3–4 | 2–4 | 8th | |||||
| 1921 | Chicago | 6–1 | 4–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1922 | Chicago | 5–1–1 | 4–0–1 | T–1st[citation needed] | |||||
| 1923 | Chicago | 7–1 | 7–1 | 3rd | |||||
| 1924 | Chicago | 4–1–3 | 3–0–3 | 1st | |||||
| 1925 | Chicago | 3–4–1 | 2–2–1 | 7th | |||||
| 1926 | Chicago | 2–6 | 0–5 | 10th | |||||
| 1927 | Chicago | 4–4 | 4–4 | 5th | |||||
| 1928 | Chicago | 2–7 | 0–5 | 10th | |||||
| 1929 | Chicago | 7–3 | 1–3 | 7th | |||||
| 1930 | Chicago | 2–5–2 | 0–4 | 10th | |||||
| 1931 | Chicago | 2–6–1 | 1–4 | 8th | |||||
| 1932 | Chicago | 3–4–1 | 1–4 | 8th | |||||
| Chicago: | 244–111–27 | 115–74–12 | |||||||
| Pacific Tigers(Far Western Conference)(1933–1942) | |||||||||
| 1933 | Pacific | 5–5 | 3–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1934 | Pacific | 4–5 | 2–2 | 4th | |||||
| 1935 | Pacific | 5–4–1 | 3–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1936 | Pacific | 5–4–1 | 4–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1937 | Pacific | 3–5–2 | 3–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1938 | Pacific | 7–3 | 4–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1939 | Pacific | 6–6–1 | 2–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1940 | Pacific | 4–5 | 2–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1941 | Pacific | 4–7 | 3–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1942 | Pacific | 2–6–1 | 2–0 | 1st | |||||
| Pacific Tigers(Independent)(1943–1945) | |||||||||
| 1943 | Pacific | 7–2 | 19 | ||||||
| 1944 | Pacific | 3–8 | |||||||
| 1945 | Pacific | 0–10–1 | |||||||
| Pacific Tigers(Far Western Conference)(1946) | |||||||||
| 1946 | Pacific | 5–7 | 2–2 | T–2nd | LOptimist | ||||
| Pacific: | 60–77–7 | 30–10 | |||||||
| Total: | 314–199–35 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Maroons(Independent)(1893–1895) | |||||||||
| 1893 | Chicago | 11–4 | |||||||
| 1894 | Chicago | 11–7 | |||||||
| 1895 | Chicago | 15–5 | |||||||
| Chicago Maroons(Western Conference)(1896–1912) | |||||||||
| 1896 | Chicago | 19–11 | 6–2 | 1st | |||||
| 1897 | Chicago | 16–4 | 6–2 | 1st | |||||
| 1898 | Chicago | 12–7 | 8–3 | 1st | |||||
| 1899 | Chicago | 18–8 | 6–4 | 3rd | |||||
| 1900 | Chicago | 17–16–1 | 5–8 | 4th | |||||
| 1901 | Chicago | 11–19 | 7–8 | 3rd | |||||
| 1902 | Chicago | 18–8 | 7–7 | 3rd | |||||
| 1903 | Chicago | 16–5 | 7–5 | 3rd | |||||
| 1904 | Chicago | 21–8–1 | 8–7 | 3rd | |||||
| 1905 | Chicago | 13–12 | 4–8 | 3rd | |||||
| 1906 | Chicago | 14–7 | 9–6 | 3rd | |||||
| 1907 | Chicago | 14–10–1 | 5–6 | 4th | |||||
| 1908 | Chicago | 12–7 | 8–5 | 4th | |||||
| 1909 | Chicago | 13–6 | 8–4 | 3rd | |||||
| 1910 | Chicago | 8–7 | 5–5 | 4th | |||||
| 1911 | Chicago | 11–8 | 8–6 | 2nd | |||||
| 1912 | Chicago | 8–7 | 6–6 | 3rd | |||||
| Chicago: | 278–166–3 (.625) | 113–92 (.551) | |||||||
| Total: | 278–166–3 (.625) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Maroons(Big Ten Conference)(1920–1921) | |||||||||
| 1920–21 | Chicago | 14–6 | 6–6 | 8th | |||||
| Chicago: | 14–6 (.700) | 6–6 (.500) | |||||||
| Total: | 14–6 (.700) | ||||||||
.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
