Amos Alonzo Stagg
Encyclopedia
Amos Alonzo Stagg was an American athlete and pioneering college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football
. He served as the head football coach at Springfield College
(1890–1891), the University of Chicago
(1892–1932), and the College of the Pacific (1933–1946), compiling a career college football
record of 314–199–35. His Chicago Maroons
teams of 1905 and 1913 have been recognized as national champions. He was also the head basketball
coach for one season at the University of Chicago (1920–1921), and the head baseball
coach there for 19 seasons (1893–1905, 1907–1913).
Stagg played football as an end at Yale University
and was selected to the first College Football All-America Team
in 1889. He was inducted into the College 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 and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame
in its first group of inductees in 1959.
and attended Phillips Exeter Academy
. Playing at Yale University
, where he was a divinity
student, and a member of the Psi Upsilon
fraternity and the secret Skull and Bones
society, he was an end on the first All-America team, selected in 1889.
A pitcher
on his college baseball team, he declined an opportunity to play professional baseball but nonetheless influenced the game through his invention of the batting cage. He went on to earn an MPE from the Young Men's Christian Training School, now known as Springfield College
. On March 11, 1892, Stagg, still an instructor at the YMCA School, played in the first public game of basketball at the Springfield YMCA. A crowd of 200 watched as the student team beat the faculty, 5–1. Stagg scored the only basket for the losing side.
, a secondary school
, in 1890. This was also Stagg's first time receiving pay to coach football. He would coach there one day a week while also coaching full time at Springfield College
. Stagg then coached at the University of Chicago
from 1892 to 1932. University president Robert Maynard Hutchins forced out the septuagenarian Stagg, who he felt was too old to continue coaching. Stagg moved on to the College of the Pacific, where he coached from 1933 to 1946. During his career, he developed numerous basic tactics for the game (including the man in motion and the lateral pass), as well as some equipment. Stagg played himself in the movie Knute Rockne, All American
released in 1940. From 1947 to 1952 he served as a co-head coach with his son at Susquehanna University
in Pennsylvania. In 1924
, he served as a coach with the U.S. Olympic Track and Field team in Paris. Stagg's final job was as kicking coach at the University of Stockton, which he retired from at the age of 96. Known as the "Grand Old Man of College Football", Stagg died in Stockton, California
, at 102 years old.
and Paul
, and a daughter, Ruth. Both sons played for the elder Stagg as quarterback
s 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 for Slatington High School in Slatington, Pennsylvania
.
and the other in Stockton, California
, and an elementary school in Chicago
, Illinois, are named after Stagg. The NCAA Division III National Football Championship
game, played in Salem, Virginia
, is named the Stagg Bowl after him. The athletic stadium at Springfield College
is named Stagg Field. The football field at Susquehanna University
is named Amos Alonzo Stagg Field in honor of both Stagg Sr. and Jr. Stagg was the namesake of the University of Chicago's old Stagg Field
where, on December 2, 1942, a team of Manhattan Project
scientists led by Enrico Fermi
created the world's first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction
under the west stands of the abandoned stadium. Stagg Memorial Stadium
, the University of the Pacific's football and soccer stadium, is named in his honor as well. Phillips Exeter also has a field named for him and a statue. A field in West Orange, New Jersey
on Saint Cloud Avenue is also named from him.
At the College 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.
The Amos Alonzo Stagg Collection is held at the University of the Pacific Library, Holt Atherton Department of Special Collections. The Amos Alonzo Stagg 50-mile Endurance Hike is held annually along the C&O Canal
outside Potomac, Maryland
.
Starting in 2011, the winner of the Big Ten Football Championship Game
will receive the Stagg Championship Trophy, named in his honor.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
. He served as the head football coach at Springfield College
Springfield College
Springfield College is a private, coeducational university located in the City of Springfield, Massachusetts. Springfield College is most famous as the site where the sport of basketball was invented...
(1890–1891), the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
(1892–1932), and the College of the Pacific (1933–1946), compiling a career college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
record of 314–199–35. His Chicago Maroons
Chicago Maroons football
The Chicago Maroons are the college football team representing the University of Chicago. The Maroons play in NCAA Division III as a member of the University Athletic Association. From 1892 to 1939, the Maroons were a major college football power...
teams of 1905 and 1913 have been recognized as national champions. He was also the head basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
coach for one season at the University of Chicago (1920–1921), and the head baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
coach there for 19 seasons (1893–1905, 1907–1913).
Stagg played football as an end at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and was selected to the first College Football All-America Team
1889 College Football All-America Team
The 1889 College Football All-America team was the first College Football All-America Team. The team was selected by Casper Whitney and published in This Week's Sports....
in 1889. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
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 and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame
Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, honors exceptional basketball players, coaches, referees, executives, and other major contributors to the game of basketball worldwide...
in its first group of inductees in 1959.
Playing career
Stagg was born in West Orange, New JerseyWest Orange, New Jersey
West Orange is a township in central Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 46,207...
and attended Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
. Playing at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where he was a divinity
Divinity (academic discipline)
Divinity is the study of Christian and other theology and ministry at a school, divinity school, university, or seminary. The term is sometimes a synonym for theology as an academic, speculative pursuit, and sometimes is used for the study of applied theology and ministry to make a distinction...
student, and a member of the Psi Upsilon
Psi Upsilon
Psi Upsilon is the fifth oldest college fraternity in the United States, founded at Union College in 1833. It has chapters at colleges and universities throughout North America. For most of its history, Psi Upsilon, like most social fraternities, limited its membership to men only...
fraternity and the secret Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones is an undergraduate senior or secret society at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. It is a traditional peer society to Scroll and Key and Wolf's Head, as the three senior class 'landed societies' at Yale....
society, he was an end on the first All-America team, selected in 1889.
A pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
on his college baseball team, he declined an opportunity to play professional baseball but nonetheless influenced the game through his invention of the batting cage. He went on to earn an MPE from the Young Men's Christian Training School, now known as Springfield College
Springfield College
Springfield College is a private, coeducational university located in the City of Springfield, Massachusetts. Springfield College is most famous as the site where the sport of basketball was invented...
. On March 11, 1892, Stagg, still an instructor at the YMCA School, played in the first public game of basketball at the Springfield YMCA. A crowd of 200 watched as the student team beat the faculty, 5–1. Stagg scored the only basket for the losing side.
Coaching career
Stagg became the first paid football coach at Williston SeminaryWilliston Northampton School
The Williston Northampton School, or "Williston," is a private co-educational preparatory school for boarding and day students in seventh grade through postgraduate year located in Easthampton, Massachusetts. The campus offers a range of extra-curricular activities in the arts and athletics...
, a secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
, in 1890. This was also Stagg's first time receiving pay to coach football. He would coach there one day a week while also coaching full time at Springfield College
Springfield College
Springfield College is a private, coeducational university located in the City of Springfield, Massachusetts. Springfield College is most famous as the site where the sport of basketball was invented...
. Stagg then coached at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
from 1892 to 1932. University president Robert Maynard Hutchins forced out the septuagenarian Stagg, who he felt was too old to continue coaching. Stagg moved on to the College of the Pacific, where he coached from 1933 to 1946. During his career, he developed numerous basic tactics for the game (including the man in motion and the lateral pass), as well as some equipment. Stagg played himself in the movie Knute Rockne, All American
Knute Rockne, All American
Knute Rockne, All American is a 1940 biographical film which tells the story of Knute Rockne, Notre Dame football coach. It stars Pat O'Brien, Ronald Reagan, Gale Page, Donald Crisp, Albert Bassermann, Owen Davis, Jr., Nick Lukats, Kane Richmond, William Marshall and William Byrne. It also...
released in 1940. From 1947 to 1952 he served as a co-head coach with his son at Susquehanna University
Susquehanna University
Susquehanna University is a liberal arts college in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, United States, north of the state capital, Harrisburg.-Academics:...
in Pennsylvania. In 1924
1924 Summer Olympics
The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...
, he served as a coach with the U.S. Olympic Track and Field team in Paris. Stagg's final job was as kicking coach at the University of Stockton, which he retired from at the age of 96. Known as the "Grand Old Man of College Football", Stagg died in Stockton, California
Stockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
, at 102 years old.
Family
Stagg was married to the former Stella Robertson on September 10, 1894. The couple had three children: two sons, Amos Jr.Amos Alonzo Stagg, Jr.
Amos Alonzo "Lonnie" Stagg, Jr. , sometimes called Young Stagg was an American football player and coach of college football and basketball....
and Paul
Paul Stagg
Paul Stagg was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Moravian College , Springfield College , Worcester Polytechnic Institute , and Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon , compiling a career college...
, and a daughter, Ruth. Both sons played for the elder Stagg as quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
s at the University of Chicago and each later coached college football. In 1952, Barbara Stagg, Amos' granddaughter, started coaching the high school girls' basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
team for Slatington High School in Slatington, Pennsylvania
Slatington, Pennsylvania
Slatington is a borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. It is located 15 miles northwest of Allentown, in the Lehigh Valley region of the state...
.
Legacy
Two high schools in the United States, one in Palos Hills, IllinoisPalos Hills, Illinois
Palos Hills is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of Chicago. The population was 17,665 at the 2000 census. It is the home of Moraine Valley Community College as well as Amos Alonzo Stagg High School.-Geography:...
and the other in Stockton, California
Stockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
, and an elementary school in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois, are named after Stagg. The NCAA Division III National Football Championship
NCAA Division III national football championship
The NCAA Division III National Football Championship began in 1973. Before 1973, most of the schools now in Division III competed in the NCAA's former "College Division"....
game, played in Salem, Virginia
Salem, Virginia
Salem is an independent city in Virginia, USA, bordered by the city of Roanoke to the east but otherwise adjacent to Roanoke County. It is part of the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 24,802 according to 2010 U.S. Census...
, is named the Stagg Bowl after him. The athletic stadium at Springfield College
Springfield College
Springfield College is a private, coeducational university located in the City of Springfield, Massachusetts. Springfield College is most famous as the site where the sport of basketball was invented...
is named Stagg Field. The football field at Susquehanna University
Susquehanna University
Susquehanna University is a liberal arts college in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, United States, north of the state capital, Harrisburg.-Academics:...
is named Amos Alonzo Stagg Field in honor of both Stagg Sr. and Jr. Stagg was the namesake of the University of Chicago's old Stagg Field
Stagg Field
Amos Alonzo Stagg Field is the name of two different football fields for the University of Chicago. The earliest Stagg Field is probably best remembered for its role in a landmark scientific achievement by Enrico Fermi during the Manhattan Project. The site of the first nuclear reaction received...
where, on December 2, 1942, a team of Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
scientists led by Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi was an Italian-born, naturalized American physicist particularly known for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics...
created the world's first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction
Nuclear chain reaction
A nuclear chain reaction occurs when one nuclear reaction causes an average of one or more nuclear reactions, thus leading to a self-propagating number of these reactions. The specific nuclear reaction may be the fission of heavy isotopes or the fusion of light isotopes...
under the west stands of the abandoned stadium. Stagg Memorial Stadium
Stagg Memorial Stadium
Amos Alonzo Stagg Memorial Stadium, previously known as Pacific Memorial Stadium, is a 28,000 seat, outdoor multi-purpose stadium on the campus of the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.-Stadium construction:...
, the University of the Pacific's football and soccer stadium, is named in his honor as well. Phillips Exeter also has a field named for him and a statue. A field in West Orange, New Jersey
West Orange, New Jersey
West Orange is a township in central Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 46,207...
on Saint Cloud Avenue is also named from him.
At the College of William and Mary
College of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States...
, 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.
The Amos Alonzo Stagg Collection is held at the University of the Pacific Library, Holt Atherton Department of Special Collections. The Amos Alonzo Stagg 50-mile Endurance Hike is held annually along the C&O Canal
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal, and occasionally referred to as the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1831 until 1924 parallel to the Potomac River in Maryland from Cumberland, Maryland to Washington, D.C. The total length of the canal is about . The elevation change of...
outside Potomac, Maryland
Potomac, Maryland
Potomac is a census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, named for the nearby Potomac River. The population was 44,822 at the 2000 census. The Potomac area is known for its very affluent and highly-educated residents. In 2009 CNNMoney.com listed Potomac as the fourth...
.
Starting in 2011, the winner of the Big Ten Football Championship Game
Big Ten Football Championship Game
The Big Ten Football Championship Game is a college football game that will be held by the Big Ten Conference each year to determine the conference's season champion. The inaugural game will be held on December 3, 2011. The games during the next two seasons will be held on December 1, 2012 and...
will receive the Stagg Championship Trophy, named in his honor.
Innovations in football
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.- 7–2–2 defense (1890)
- center snap (1894; John HeismanJohn HeismanJohn William Heisman was an American player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College , Buchtel College, now known as the University of Akron , Auburn University , Clemson University , Georgia Tech , the...
claimed to have invented it in 1893) - onside kickOnside kickIn American and Canadian football, an onside kick is a type of kick used at a kickoff or other free kick, or scrimmage kick or other kick during play, in which the ball is kicked favorably for the kicking team to avoid giving away the ball...
(1894; possibly contributor) - quick kickQuick kickIn American football and Canadian football, a quick kick is any punt made under conditions such that the opposing team "should not" expect a punt. Typically this has been a kick from scrimmage from a formation that is, or resembles, one usually used other than for punting, or at least not...
(1896) - spiral snap (1896; contributor alongside Walter CampWalter CampWalter Chauncey Camp was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". With John Heisman, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, Fielding H. Yost, and George Halas, Camp was one of the most accomplished persons in the early history of American football...
and George Washington WoodruffGeorge Washington WoodruffNote: 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. Davis1895 Poll Results = Penn: Billingsley, Helms,...
) - placement kickPlace kickThe place kick is a kicking style commonly used in rugby league and rugby union. It is also seen in Association football, American football and Canadian football.-American and Canadian football:...
(1897; Stagg believed PrincetonPrinceton Tigers footballThe Princeton Tigers football program represents Princeton University college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision...
used it earlier) - tackling dummy (1899)
- Statue of Liberty playStatue of Liberty playThe Statue of Liberty is a trick play in American football, occasionally seen in high school football, college football and the NFL.-Execution of the play:...
(1908) - T formationT formationIn American football, a T formation is a formation used by the offensive team in which three running backs line up in a row about five yards behind the quarterback, forming the shape of a "T"....
(contributor) - forward passForward passIn several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
(contributor alongside Eddie CochemsEddie CochemsEdward Bulwer "Eddie" Cochems was an American football player and coach. He played football for the University of Wisconsin from 1898 to 1901 and was the head football coach at North Dakota State , Clemson , Saint Louis University , and Maine . During his three years at St...
and Walter CampWalter CampWalter Chauncey Camp was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". With John Heisman, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, Fielding H. Yost, and George Halas, Camp was one of the most accomplished persons in the early history of American football...
) - man in motion
- unbalanced line
- line shift
- sleeper play
- quarterback keeperQuarterback keeperA quarterback keeper or keeper in American football is a designed play in which the quarterback does not pass or hand off the ball to another player and instead rushes forward with it in an effort to gain yardage...
- delayed buck
- linebackerLinebackerA linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
position - hip padsAmerican football protective equipmentAmerican football protective equipment consists of equipment worn by football players for the protection of the body during the course of football games. Basic equipments worn by almost all football players include a helmet, shoulder pads, gloves, shoes, and thigh and knee pads...
- numerical designation of playsAmerican football playsA play in American football is a set of player and ball movements to either advance the ball or prevent the advancement of the ball .-Order of a play:A play begins in one of two ways:...
- lateral passLateral passIn American football, a lateral pass or lateral, officially backward pass , occurs when the ball carrier throws the football to any teammate behind him or directly next to him...
- padded goalposts
- varsity letterVarsity letterA varsity letter is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its winner was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met.- Description :...
s - End-aroundEnd-aroundThe end-around is a play in American football in which a wide receiver crosses the backfield towards the opposite end of the line and receives a handoff directly from the quarterback. The receiver then may proceed to do one of two things: he either runs the ball towards the line of scrimmage in...
College football
College basketball
External links
- University of Chicago profile
- Amos Alonzo Stagg at the Basketball Hall of FameBasketball Hall of FameThe Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, honors exceptional basketball players, coaches, referees, executives, and other major contributors to the game of basketball worldwide...
- Amos Alonzo Stagg at College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com