Jock Sutherland
Encyclopedia
Dr. John Bain "Jock" Sutherland, D.D.S., (March 11, 1889 – April 11, 1948) was an American football
coach. He coached college football
at Lafayette College
(1919–1923) and the University of Pittsburgh
(1924–1938) and professional football for the Brooklyn Dodgers
(1940–1941) and Pittsburgh Steelers
(1946–1947). He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
in 1951.
in Scotland
, Sutherland got his start in football by playing end at the University of Pittsburgh
, commonly known as Pitt, under legendary coach Glen S. "Pop" Warner
. Sutherland was named an All-America
n and played on Pitt's National Championship teams in 1915 and 1916.
Sutherland also played on Pitt's undefeated 1917 team. The 1917 team was known as "The Fighting Dentists" because on occasion every position was filled by dental students. The dental students on the 1917 team included Sutherland, Katy Easterday
, Skip Gougler
, "Tank" McLaren and "Jake" Stahl
. Sutherland graduated from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Dentistry
, where he also held a professorship in the instruction of bridge and crown.
of the Ohio League
, which was the direct predecessor to the modern National Football League
. However he soon left the team and began his head coaching career at Lafayette College
from 1919 to 1923, leading the Leopards to the 1921 Eastern Collegiate Championship.
". He was known for his calm and direct demeanor, never shouting or ranting to motivate his team.
During his tenure, Sutherland's teams were named Eastern football champions seven times including 1925, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1934, 1936, and 1937. During this time, Pitt appeared in four Rose Bowl games (1928, 1930, 1933, and 1937) and turned down a bid for the 1938 Rose Bowl. Sutherland's teams were named "National Champions" by various selectors for nine different seasons including 1925, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, and 1938. Of these, the University of Pittsburgh officially recognizes five of those years as national championship seasons (1929, 1931, 1934, 1936, and 1937), while one of them, 1937, includes the Associated Press national championship
designation which, at the time, was only the third instance in which the AP poll had been published. Sutherland coached the famed "Dream Backfield" of John Chickerneo, Dick Cassiano
, Harold Stebbins, and Marshall Goldberg
, which at the time was considered to be the best backfield in history by some, including Don Miller, a member of The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame
.
After years of struggling with the University for sustained financial support, Sutherland resigned in 1938 because the school's Chancellor, John Gabbert Bowman
, instituted a policy of de-emphasis for the football program, eliminating athletic scholarships, student athlete stipends, and the recruiting funds. Bowman's moves, which resulted in Sutherland's departure, were controversial among students and supporters of the football program.
As of 2009, his career coaching record of 144–28–14 in 20 seasons at the collegiate level, an .812 winning percentage, is the 25th best winning percentage in all divisions of college football and 11th best among coaches from the top division, currently known as the Division I FBS. His .812 winning percentage is also the 5th best such mark during the first 20 years of any coaches' career. He is also tied for the 23rd fewest games to reach 100 victories, accomplished in his 132nd game as coach.
for two seasons, 1940–41, before leaving the team to serve the United States during World War II.
During the war, Sutherland served in the United States Navy
and achieved the rank of Lieutenant commander
.
Upon returning to the United States, Sutherland landed with the Pittsburgh Steelers
, where he was head coach and team vice president. He led the Steelers to their first playoff appearance in 1947.
, where he was experiencing confusion and was then taken to a hospital in Cairo, Illinois
, where he was initially diagnosed with "nervous exhaustion". He was flown back to Pittsburgh for further treatment. An exploratory surgery was required to determine whether he was suffering from a hemorrhage or a tumor. Sutherland died in Pittsburgh on April 11, 1948, following surgery to remove a malignant brain tumor. He is interred in Pittsburgh's Homewood Cemetery
.
Sutherland was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
in 1951 as both a player and a coach.
He is memorialized on the Pitt campus with a street, Sutherland Drive, and the student residence Sutherland Hall
.
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...
coach. He coached 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...
at Lafayette College
Lafayette College
Lafayette College is a private coeducational liberal arts and engineering college located in Easton, Pennsylvania, USA. The school, founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter,son of General Andrew Porter of Norristown and citizens of Easton, first began holding classes in 1832...
(1919–1923) and the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
(1924–1938) and professional football for the Brooklyn Dodgers
Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL)
The Brooklyn Dodgers were an American football team that played in the National Football League from 1930 to 1943, and in 1944 as the Brooklyn Tigers. The team played its home games at Ebbets Field. In 1945, because of financial difficulties, the team was merged with the Boston Yanks...
(1940–1941) and Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
(1946–1947). 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...
in 1951.
Biography
A native of Coupar AngusCoupar Angus
Coupar Angus is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, situated eight kilometres south of Blairgowrie.The name Coupar Angus serves to differentiate the town from Cupar, Fife...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, Sutherland got his start in football by playing end at the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
, commonly known as Pitt, under legendary coach Glen S. "Pop" Warner
Glenn Scobey Warner
Glenn Scobey Warner , most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American football player and coach...
. Sutherland was named an All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n and played on Pitt's National Championship teams in 1915 and 1916.
Sutherland also played on Pitt's undefeated 1917 team. The 1917 team was known as "The Fighting Dentists" because on occasion every position was filled by dental students. The dental students on the 1917 team included Sutherland, Katy Easterday
Katy Easterday
Roy Alexander "Katy" Easterday was an American football and basketball player, track and field athlete, coach, college athletics administrator, and dentist. He played at the halfback position for the Pittsburgh Panthers football teams from 1917 to 1918 and was selected as an All-American in 1918...
, Skip Gougler
Skip Gougler
Roscoe A. "Skip" Gougler was an American football player and coach, dentist and professor of dentistry. He played at the halfback and quarterback positions for the Pitt Panthers football teams from 1915-1918. He was selected as a second-team All-American in 1918...
, "Tank" McLaren and "Jake" Stahl
E.A. "Jake" Stahl
Edward Adam "Jake" Stahl was an American football player. He played guard and tackle positions for the Pittsburgh Panthers football teams from 1915–1918. He was selected as a second-team All-American in 1918. He also played professional football from 1920–1921.- Biography :Stahl was born in...
. Sutherland graduated from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Dentistry
University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine
The University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine, located in Pittsburgh, PA, is one of Pitt’s six schools of the health sciences and is closely affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center....
, where he also held a professorship in the instruction of bridge and crown.
Coaching
In 1919, Sutherland played in a few games with the Massillon TigersMassillon Tigers
The Massillon Tigers were an early professional football team from Massillon, Ohio. Playing in the "Ohio League", the team was a rival to the pre-National Football League version of the Canton Bulldogs. The Tigers won Ohio League championships in 1903, 1904, 1905, and 1906, then merged to become...
of the Ohio League
Ohio League
The Ohio League was an informal and loose association of American football clubs active between 1903 and 1919 that competed for the Ohio Independent Championship . As the name implied, its teams were based in Ohio...
, which was the direct predecessor to the modern National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. However he soon left the team and began his head coaching career at Lafayette College
Lafayette College
Lafayette College is a private coeducational liberal arts and engineering college located in Easton, Pennsylvania, USA. The school, founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter,son of General Andrew Porter of Norristown and citizens of Easton, first began holding classes in 1832...
from 1919 to 1923, leading the Leopards to the 1921 Eastern Collegiate Championship.
University of Pittsburgh
In 1924, Sutherland replaced "Pop" Warner, his former coach and mentor, as head coach at Pitt. Sutherland, who was described as "a national hero" in a Saturday Evening Post article, became a highly admired and influential coach at the University while compiling a record of 111–20–12. On offense, he ran a double-wing formation known as the "Sutherland ScytheSutherland Single-Wing
In American football, the Sutherland single-wing was a variation of the single-wing formation used with great success by Coach Jock Sutherland of the 1930s and 1940s...
". He was known for his calm and direct demeanor, never shouting or ranting to motivate his team.
During his tenure, Sutherland's teams were named Eastern football champions seven times including 1925, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1934, 1936, and 1937. During this time, Pitt appeared in four Rose Bowl games (1928, 1930, 1933, and 1937) and turned down a bid for the 1938 Rose Bowl. Sutherland's teams were named "National Champions" by various selectors for nine different seasons including 1925, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, and 1938. Of these, the University of Pittsburgh officially recognizes five of those years as national championship seasons (1929, 1931, 1934, 1936, and 1937), while one of them, 1937, includes the Associated Press national championship
AP Poll
The Associated Press College Poll refers to weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling sportswriters across the nation...
designation which, at the time, was only the third instance in which the AP poll had been published. Sutherland coached the famed "Dream Backfield" of John Chickerneo, Dick Cassiano
Dick Cassiano
Dick Cassiano was a halfback in the National Football League. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers during the 1940 NFL season....
, Harold Stebbins, and Marshall Goldberg
Marshall Goldberg
Marshall Goldberg was an American football halfback with the Chicago Cardinals in the National Football League.- Football career :Goldberg was born in Elkins, West Virginia...
, which at the time was considered to be the best backfield in history by some, including Don Miller, a member of The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame
Four Horsemen (football)
The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame comprised a winning group of American football players at the University of Notre Dame under coach Knute Rockne. They were the backfield of Notre Dame's 1924 football team...
.
After years of struggling with the University for sustained financial support, Sutherland resigned in 1938 because the school's Chancellor, John Gabbert Bowman
John Gabbert Bowman
John Gabbert Bowman was the tenth Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh and the ninth President of the University of Iowa....
, instituted a policy of de-emphasis for the football program, eliminating athletic scholarships, student athlete stipends, and the recruiting funds. Bowman's moves, which resulted in Sutherland's departure, were controversial among students and supporters of the football program.
As of 2009, his career coaching record of 144–28–14 in 20 seasons at the collegiate level, an .812 winning percentage, is the 25th best winning percentage in all divisions of college football and 11th best among coaches from the top division, currently known as the Division I FBS. His .812 winning percentage is also the 5th best such mark during the first 20 years of any coaches' career. He is also tied for the 23rd fewest games to reach 100 victories, accomplished in his 132nd game as coach.
Professional football and military service
Sutherland later coached in the National Football League with the Brooklyn DodgersBrooklyn Dodgers (NFL)
The Brooklyn Dodgers were an American football team that played in the National Football League from 1930 to 1943, and in 1944 as the Brooklyn Tigers. The team played its home games at Ebbets Field. In 1945, because of financial difficulties, the team was merged with the Boston Yanks...
for two seasons, 1940–41, before leaving the team to serve the United States during World War II.
During the war, Sutherland served in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
and achieved the rank of Lieutenant commander
Lieutenant commander (United States)
Lieutenant commander is a mid-ranking officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade of O-4 and NATO rank code OF-3...
.
Upon returning to the United States, Sutherland landed with the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
, where he was head coach and team vice president. He led the Steelers to their first playoff appearance in 1947.
Sudden illness and death
While on a scouting trip for the Steelers in April 1948, Sutherland was found in his car in Bandana, KentuckyBandana, Kentucky
Bandana is an unincorporated community in Ballard County, Kentucky, United States. Its ZIP code is 42022.Bandana is part of the Paducah, KY-IL Micropolitan Statistical Area....
, where he was experiencing confusion and was then taken to a hospital in Cairo, Illinois
Cairo, Illinois
Cairo is the southernmost city in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the county seat of Alexander County. Cairo is located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The rivers converge at Fort Defiance State Park, an American Civil War fort that was commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant...
, where he was initially diagnosed with "nervous exhaustion". He was flown back to Pittsburgh for further treatment. An exploratory surgery was required to determine whether he was suffering from a hemorrhage or a tumor. Sutherland died in Pittsburgh on April 11, 1948, following surgery to remove a malignant brain tumor. He is interred in Pittsburgh's Homewood Cemetery
Homewood Cemetery
Homewood Cemetery is a historic, nonsectarian burial ground in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in Squirrel Hill and is bordered by both Frick Park and the neighborhood of Point Breeze....
.
Honors
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...
in 1951 as both a player and a coach.
He is memorialized on the Pitt campus with a street, Sutherland Drive, and the student residence Sutherland Hall
Upper campus residence halls (University of Pittsburgh)
Among the newest residence facilities at the University of Pittsburgh, these building reside on the upper campus located near many of the school's athletic facilities. The upper campus resides approximately above the lower campus that lies along Forbes and Fifth Avenues, providing dramatic views...
.
College
*The Pittsburgh Panthers claim a share of the 1934 National Championship per a 1970 Sports Illustrated study on national championships that the school has used since its publication as the basis of its claims. However, this championship is not included in the Official NCAA Records Book's list of national champions.External links
- Sutherland's Page at College Football Hall of Fame
- Satellite image from Google Maps showing Sutherland Drive and Sutherland Hall (building with red roof between University Drive and Alliquippa Street)