Harris G. Cope
![]() Cope, c. 1913 | |
Biographical details | |
---|---|
Born | Savannah, Georgia, U.S. | March 16, 1880
Died | September 24, 1924 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. | (aged 44)
Playing career | |
Football | |
1899–1901 | Sewanee |
Position(s) | Quarterback (football) Third baseman (baseball) |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
Football | |
1904 | Sewanee (assistant) |
1909–1916 | Sewanee |
1922–1923 | Howard (AL) |
Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
1909–1913 | Sewanee |
1922–1924 | Howard (AL) |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 48–28–12 |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
1 SIAA (1909) | |
Harris Goodwin Cope (March 16, 1880 – September 24, 1924) was an American football and baseball player and football coach. He served as the head football coach at Sewanee: The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee from 1909 to 1916 and Howard College—now known as Samford University—in Marion, Alabama from 1922 to 1923, compiling a career college football coaching record of 48–28–12. Cope was a member of the National Football Rules Committee in 1914–15.
Early life and playing career
[edit]Cope first played at the Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut.[1]
Sewanee
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Harriscope.png/150px-Harriscope.png)
In his first year of varsity football, Cope was a substitute quarterback on the undefeated "Iron Men" of the 1899 Sewanee Tigers football team. He was the captain and the starting quarter for Sewanee's 1901 team.[2]
Cope played third baseman on the Sewanee baseball team.
Coaching career
[edit]Cope worked for a short time as a business man in Cartersville before returning to Sewanee to coach in 1909. For many years, he returned to Cartersville during the off-seasons to manage the Cartersville Colts semi-professional men’s baseball team.[3]
Sewanee
[edit]Cope has the third-most wins of any Sewanee coach (43), behind Shirley Majors' 93 and John Windham's 45; and has the highest winning percentage of any Sewanee coach who coached for more than 3 seasons. His continuity came after a period in which Sewanee had much talent but six coaches in seven years.[4]
1909
[edit]In Cope's first year at head coach he led the Sewanee Tigers to a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) championship in 1909, beating previous season's champion LSU and handing Vanderbilt its first loss to a Southern team in six years.
Howard
[edit]Former Sewanee player Bob Taylor Dobbins assisted Cope at Howard. Cope was also a very astute golfer, playing in club tournaments during his off-seasons.
Death
[edit]Cope died of pneumonia in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 24, 1924, just before the start of Howard's football season.[5]
Legacy
[edit]Cope's disciples include:
- Bob Taylor Dobbins, played for Sewanee (1913–1915), assistant for Howard (1922–1923)
- Frank Faulkinberry, played for Sewanee (1907–1910), head coach for Middle Tennessee State (1926–1932)
- Jenks Gillem, played for Sewanee (1910–1912), head coach for Howard (1925–1926), Birmingham–Southern (1928–1939), head coach for Sewanee (1940–1941)
- Frank Juhan, played for Sewanee (1908–1910), assistant for Sewanee (1913–1915)
- Henry D. Phillips, assistant for Sewanee (1909–1915)
- Silas Williams, played for Sewanee (1908–1909), assistant for Sewanee (1914–1915), head coach for Chattanooga (1919–1921)
Head coaching record
[edit]Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sewanee Tigers (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1909–1916) | |||||||||
1909 | Sewanee | 6–1 | 5–0 | 1st | |||||
1910 | Sewanee | 8–2 | 3–1 | T–3rd | |||||
1911 | Sewanee | 6–3–1 | 2–3 | 9th | |||||
1912 | Sewanee | 5–1–2 | 2–1–2 | 5th | |||||
1913 | Sewanee | 4–3 | 2–2 | 7th | |||||
1914 | Sewanee | 5–3 | 4–2 | 5th | |||||
1915 | Sewanee | 4–3–2 | 2–2–2 | 10th | |||||
1916 | Sewanee | 5–2–2 | 2–2–2 | 14th | |||||
Sewanee: | 43–18–7 | 22–14–6 | |||||||
Howard Bulldogs (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1922–1923) | |||||||||
1922 | Howard | 2–6–2 | 0–2 | ||||||
1923 | Howard | 3–4–3 | 1–3–1 | ||||||
Howard: | 5–10–5 | 1–5–1 | |||||||
Total: | 48–28–12 | ||||||||
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth |
References
[edit]- ^ Marvin McCarthy (January 2, 1922). "Howard Gets Coach Cope". Atlanta Constitution. p. 9. Retrieved February 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ John Hunter Garland (1962). The Mills, Cope, and related families of Georgia. p. 188.
- ^ "Coach For Sewanee". Atlanta Georgian. August 31, 1909. Archived from the original on December 14, 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
- ^ James Gregg, Jr. (1949). "Sports At Sewanee". Sewanee Alumni News: 3.
- ^ Horn, Blinkey (September 25, 1924). "Henderson-Brown Will Sub for Howard as Vandy's Foe Saturday". The Tennessean. Nashville, Tennessee. p. 9. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via Newspapers.com
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External links
[edit]- 1880 births
- 1924 deaths
- 19th-century players of American football
- American football quarterbacks
- Baseball third basemen
- Samford Bulldogs athletic directors
- Samford Bulldogs football coaches
- Sewanee Tigers athletic directors
- Sewanee Tigers baseball players
- Sewanee Tigers football coaches
- Sewanee Tigers football players
- Taft School alumni
- Coaches of American football from Georgia (U.S. state)
- Players of American football from Savannah, Georgia
- Baseball players from Savannah, Georgia
- Deaths from pneumonia in Alabama