George Washington Woodruff (February 22, 1864 – March 23, 1934) was an American college football player, rower, coach, teacher, lawyer and politician. He served as the head football coach at the University of Pennsylvania (1892–1901), the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (1903), and Carlisle Indian Industrial School (1905), compiling a career college football record of 142–25–2. Woodruff's Penn teams of 1894, 1895, and 1897 have been recognized as national champions. Woodruff was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1963.
 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 22, 1864 Dimock, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | March 23, 1934 (aged 70) Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Yale University University of Pennsylvania School of Law |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1885–1888 | Yale |
| 1892–1895 | Penn |
| Position(s) | Guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1892–1901 | Penn |
| 1903 | Illinois |
| 1905 | Carlisle |
| Rowing | |
| 1892–1895 | Penn |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 142–25–2 (football) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 3 national (1894–1895, 1897) | |
| College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1963 (profile) | |
| Attorney General of Pennsylvania | |
| In office January 20, 1923 – January 18, 1927 | |
| Governor | Gifford Pinchot |
| Preceded by | George E. Alter |
| Succeeded by | Thomas J. Baldrige |
| Judge of the United States District Court for the Territory of Hawaii | |
| In office 1909–1910 | |
| Preceded by | Seat established by 60 Stat. 322 |
| Succeeded by | Alexander George Morison Robertson |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Republican |
Playing career and education
edit
Woodruff graduated from Yale University in 1889, where he was a member of Skull and Bones,[1][2]: 65 and the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, where he earned his LL.B. law degree in 1895. His football teammates at Yale included Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pudge Heffelfinger, and Pa Corbin.
Coaching career
editAt Penn, Woodruff coached Truxtun Hare, Carl Sheldon Williams, John H. Outland, his brother Wylie G. Woodruff, and Charles Gelbert. In his ten years of coaching at Penn, Woodruff compiled a 124–15–2 record while his teams scored 1777 points and only gave up 88. He also coached one year each at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and Carlisle Indian Industrial School.
Political career
editAfter coaching, Woodruff practiced law and was active in politics as a Republican. His political posts included Finance Clerk in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Attorney General, federal judge for the territory of Hawaii, chief law officer of the United States Forest Service under friend and fellow Yale alumni Gifford Pinchot, and acting Secretary of the Interior under President Theodore Roosevelt.[3]
Family and death
editWoodruff was married in 1898, to Maude Donald McBride, of Philadelphia, who died in 1918.[4] He was married a second time, in 1921, to Elfreda Foster, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Woodruff died on March 23, 1934, in Harrisburg, after suffering from pleurisy.[5]
Head coaching record
editFootball
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn Quakers (Independent) (1892–1901) | |||||||||
| 1892 | Penn | 15–1 | |||||||
| 1893 | Penn | 12–3 | |||||||
| 1894 | Penn | 12–0 | |||||||
| 1895 | Penn | 14–0 | |||||||
| 1896 | Penn | 14–1 | |||||||
| 1897 | Penn | 15–0 | |||||||
| 1898 | Penn | 12–1 | |||||||
| 1899 | Penn | 8–3–2 | |||||||
| 1900 | Penn | 12–1 | |||||||
| 1901 | Penn | 10–5 | |||||||
| Penn: | 124–15–2 | ||||||||
| Illinois Fighting Illini (Western Conference) (1903) | |||||||||
| 1903 | Illinois | 8–6 | 1–5 | 7th | |||||
| Illinois: | 8–6 | 1–5 | |||||||
| Carlisle Indians (Independent) (1905) | |||||||||
| 1905 | Carlisle | 10–4 | |||||||
| Carlisle: | 10–4 | ||||||||
| Total: | 142–25–2 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
Note: Before 1936, national champions were determined by historical research and retroactive ratings and polls.
1894 Poll Results = Penn: Parke H. Davis, Princeton: Houlgate, Yale: Billingsley, Helms, National Championship Foundation, Parke H. Davis
1895 Poll Results = Penn: Billingsley, Helms, Houlgate, National Championship Foundation, Parke H. Davis, Yale: Parke H. Davis
1897 Poll Results = Penn: Billingsley, Helms, Houlgate, National Championship Foundation, Parke H. Davis, Yale: Parke H. Davis
George Woodruff's last game as a coach was the 1905 Carlisle-Army game after which he went to Washington for a government job. Ralph Kinney completed Carlisle's season, going 3–2 over the five games played after Woodruff's departure.
References
edit- ^ Who's Who In America, 1908
- ^ "Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University Deceased during the Year 1933-1934" (PDF). Yale University. October 15, 1934. Retrieved March 24, 2011.
- ^ "Penn Biographies: George W. Woodruff (1864 -1934)". University of Pennsylvania University Archives and Records Center. Archived from the original on April 23, 2018. Retrieved March 24, 2011.
- ^ "Died; Woodruff". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. May 20, 1918. p. 9. Retrieved May 9, 2024 – via Newspapers.com
.
- ^ "George Woodruff Dies In 70th Year". Brooklyn Times-Union. Brooklyn, New York. March 24, 1934. p. 10A. Retrieved May 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .