Sam P. McBirney
Encyclopedia
Sam P. McBirney was an Irish-American football
coach and banker. He was the head football coach for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane football
team in 1908 and from 1914 to 1916. His undefeated 1916 team outscored opponents 566 to 40 to become the highest scoring college football team during the 1916 college football season
. He has been called "one of the fathers of football in Oklahoma." McBirney was also a founder and vice president of Tulsa's Bank of Commerce from 1904 until his death in 1936.
in approximately 1877. He was the fourth child of Reverend Hugh McBirney and Susan Mark McBirney, who immigrated from County Tipperary, Ireland in approximately 1875. Rev. McBirney served for 30 years at a Methodist Episcopal Church in southern Kansas.
and Coffeyville
in southeastern Kansas, McBirney moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma
in 1897 as the head of an independent baseball team. McBirney's older brother, James H. McBirney (1870–1944), also played as a pitcher for the Tulsa baseball team. One author has written that the McBirney brothers were brought to Tulsa as "ringers" for the city's baseball team.
While living in Tulsa, McBirney was also introduced to American football
. McBirney played on a local football team that was described by an Oklahoma newspaper as "a rough-and-ready semi-pro team that met anybody, anywhere."
) relocated from Muskogee, Oklahoma
, to Tulsa. In 1908, McBirney volunteered to take time away from his duties at the bank to coach the school's football team. McBirney's 1908 football team played no intercollegiate games and played four of its five games against local high schools and the fifth game against the Outrigger Canoe Club
from Hawaii. Though outscoring opponents 80 to 43, the 1908 team won 2 games and lost 3.
football team. His 1913 Tulsa High School team completed an undefeated season, won a mythical Oklahoma state championship, and defeated Henry Kendall College 27 to 6.
McBirney agreed to take over as Kendall's football coach, and over the next three years, he built the Kendall football team into one of the best teams in the country. In 1914, the first season of true intercollegiate football at Tulsa, McBirney scheduled games against the state's top schools, including Oklahoma
and Oklahoma A&M
. The 1914 team finished with a record of 6-2, outscored opponents 261 to 48, and played respectably against both Oklahoma State (a 13-6 loss) and Oklahoma (a 26-7 loss).
In 1915, McBirney's football team improved to 6-1-1, played Oklahoma State to a scoreless tie, and lost a close game to Oklahoma by a score of 14-13. In its six victories, the 1915 team outscored opponents 244-19, including one-sided victories over Eastern Oklahoma State College
(62-0), Northeastern State
(55-0) and Southwestern Oklahoma State
(45-7). McBirney's daughter, Mary McBirney, later recalled her father's devotion to coaching football: "We were always going to football games, sitting in the cold. We always had to sit on the top row so he could see all of the plays."
high school coach Francis Schmidt
, who would later be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
.
With McBirney as head coach and Schmidt as his assistant coach, the 1916 Tulsa team compiled an undefeated 10-0 record and outscored opponents 566 to 40 to become the highest scoring college football team during the 1916 college football season
. Kendall's 1916 games included high-scoring wins against Missouri-Rolla
(117-0), St. Gregory
(82-0), Ozarks
(81-0), and Haskell Institute
(46-0). The 1916 team featured John Young, who had played for McBirney at Tulsa High School and who had been recruited by Fielding H. Yost to play for the University of Michigan, and Ivan Grove, who had played for Schmidt at Arkansas City High School and became the top scoring player in college football in 1916 with 196 points.
The 1916 team gained renown for its short passing offense and for the deceptive and unique play calling of McBirney and Schmidt. In one game, Ivan Grove completed 12 consecutive passes on a single scoring drive. In another game, the team successfully executed a play the called the "tower play." Ivan Grove threw a pass to Vergil Jones as he sat on the shoulders of Puny Blevins. The play resulted in a touchdown and was declared illegal the following year. Schmidt's biographer, Brett Perkins, has suggested that the short-passing game developed by McBirney and Schmidt in 1916 was later absorbed and perfected at TCU
by Dutch Meyer
and Sammy Baugh
.
In the lowest scoring game of the 1916 season, Kendall College defeated the Oklahoma Sooners
by a score of 16 to 0 at the Sooners' home field in Norman, Oklahoma
. The victory at Norman broke a 18-game winning streak for Oklahoma, and was the first time that the Sooners were beaten in football by another school from Oklahoma. In the three games preceding the 1916 Oklahoma-Kendall game, Oklahoma had outscored its opponents 27-0, 107-0, and 140-0. The 1916 victory over the undefeated Sooners put Tulsa football on the map.
Historian and Tulsa journalist Jenk Jones recalled, "In 1916, there was a lot of agitation here to declare Tulsa the Champion of Mid America."
After the 1916 season, McBirney retired as Kendall's football coach to devote his full-time to the bank. McBirney had hand-picked Francis Schmidt as his successor, but Schmidt enlisted in the U.S. Army after the United States entered World War I in April 1917. After two years of military service, Schmidt led the team to back-to-back undefeated seasons in 1919 and 1920 before moving on to a successful coaching career with Arkansas
, TCU
and Ohio State
.
' head football coach Bennie Owen
as an "inspirational" director before key games.
, gained national fame as a syndicated newspaper columnist beginning in 1935. Her column, written under the pseudonym Aunt Chick, taught readers about cooking. When McBirney found out that his wife had decided to write a newspaper column, he reportedly said, "That crazy woman will start a run on the bank if people think she has to work!"
McBirney married Nettie in 1913. The couple had four children: Susan Bush, Williams, Samuel, and Mary Megan Bryan.
called him "one of the fathers of football in Oklahoma."
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 and banker. He was the head football coach for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane football
Tulsa Golden Hurricane football
The University of Tulsa's Golden Hurricane football team represents Tulsa in Conference USA. Tulsa is currently coached by first-year head coach Bill Blankenship. The football team was coached by Todd Graham until he accepted the head coaching job at Pittsburgh....
team in 1908 and from 1914 to 1916. His undefeated 1916 team outscored opponents 566 to 40 to become the highest scoring college football team during the 1916 college football season
1916 college football season
The 1916 college football season had a very clear cut champion, with the Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book listing Army and Pittsburgh as national champions. Only Pittsburgh claims a national championship for the 1916 season....
. He has been called "one of the fathers of football in Oklahoma." McBirney was also a founder and vice president of Tulsa's Bank of Commerce from 1904 until his death in 1936.
Early years
McBirney was born in Chetopa, KansasChetopa, Kansas
Chetopa is a city in Labette County, Kansas, United States. The population was 1,281 at the 2000 census. Chetopa was named for Chief Chetopa, an Osage Indian chief.-Geography:Chetopa is located at...
in approximately 1877. He was the fourth child of Reverend Hugh McBirney and Susan Mark McBirney, who immigrated from County Tipperary, Ireland in approximately 1875. Rev. McBirney served for 30 years at a Methodist Episcopal Church in southern Kansas.
Baseball and football player
McBirney was an athlete who won a wide reputation as a baseball player. After playing for baseball teams in ColumbusColumbus, Kansas
Columbus is the second largest city and county seat of Cherokee County, Kansas, United States, 15 miles south-southwest of Pittsburg, Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,312.-History:...
and Coffeyville
Coffeyville, Kansas
Coffeyville is a city situated along the Verdigris River in the southeastern part of Montgomery County, located in Southeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,295...
in southeastern Kansas, McBirney moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
in 1897 as the head of an independent baseball team. McBirney's older brother, James H. McBirney (1870–1944), also played as a pitcher for the Tulsa baseball team. One author has written that the McBirney brothers were brought to Tulsa as "ringers" for the city's baseball team.
While living in Tulsa, McBirney was also introduced to American football
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...
. McBirney played on a local football team that was described by an Oklahoma newspaper as "a rough-and-ready semi-pro team that met anybody, anywhere."
Banking career
In the late 1890s, the McBirney brothers began working as bookkeepers for the Tulsa Banking Company. In 1904, after the Tulsa Banking Company was reorganized with majority control by individuals from outside Tulsa, Sam and James McBirney, along with two other investors, formed the Bank of Commerce (later known as the National Bank of Commerce) in Tulsa. McBirney served as a cashier and later as vice president of the bank. His older brother served as the president of the bank. The bank grew into the largest bank in Tulsa, and according to the Tulsa Historical Society, "became a cornerstone in the future growth of Tulsa."1908 season
In 1907, Henry Kendall College (which later became the University of TulsaUniversity of Tulsa
The University of Tulsa is a private university awarding bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. It is currently ranked 75th among doctoral degree granting universities in the nation by US News and World Report and is listed as one of the "Best 366 Colleges" by...
) relocated from Muskogee, Oklahoma
Muskogee, Oklahoma
Muskogee is a city in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, United States. It is the county seat of Muskogee County, and home to Bacone College. The population was 38,310 at the 2000 census, making it the eleventh-largest city in Oklahoma....
, to Tulsa. In 1908, McBirney volunteered to take time away from his duties at the bank to coach the school's football team. McBirney's 1908 football team played no intercollegiate games and played four of its five games against local high schools and the fifth game against the Outrigger Canoe Club
Outrigger canoe
The outrigger canoe is a type of canoe featuring one or more lateral support floats known as outriggers, which are fastened to one or both sides of the main hull...
from Hawaii. Though outscoring opponents 80 to 43, the 1908 team won 2 games and lost 3.
Tulsa High School
After the 1908 season, McBirney returned to his work at the bank. He developed a love of football and began coaching the Tulsa High SchoolCentral High School (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
Central High School is the oldest high school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was founded in 1906 as Tulsa High School, and located in downtown Tulsa until 1976. The school now has a campus in northwest Tulsa. Tulsa Central is part of the Tulsa Public Schools, Oklahoma's largest school district, and is a...
football team. His 1913 Tulsa High School team completed an undefeated season, won a mythical Oklahoma state championship, and defeated Henry Kendall College 27 to 6.
1914 and 1915 seasons
In 1914, local businessmen urged McBirney to take over as the football coach at Kendall College. At the time, the college had an enrollment of approximately 100 students and had played only one intercollegiate football game between 1900 and 1912 (the bulk of its games were played against high school teams).McBirney agreed to take over as Kendall's football coach, and over the next three years, he built the Kendall football team into one of the best teams in the country. In 1914, the first season of true intercollegiate football at Tulsa, McBirney scheduled games against the state's top schools, including Oklahoma
Oklahoma Sooners football
The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma . The team is currently a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
and Oklahoma A&M
Oklahoma State Cowboys football
The Oklahoma State Cowboys football program represents Oklahoma State University–Stillwater in college football. The team is a member of the Big 12 Conference and completes at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. The Cowboys are led by Mike Gundy, who is in his seventh year as...
. The 1914 team finished with a record of 6-2, outscored opponents 261 to 48, and played respectably against both Oklahoma State (a 13-6 loss) and Oklahoma (a 26-7 loss).
In 1915, McBirney's football team improved to 6-1-1, played Oklahoma State to a scoreless tie, and lost a close game to Oklahoma by a score of 14-13. In its six victories, the 1915 team outscored opponents 244-19, including one-sided victories over Eastern Oklahoma State College
Eastern Oklahoma State College
-External links:* *...
(62-0), Northeastern State
Northeastern State University
Northeastern State University is a public university with its main campus located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, United States, at the foot of the Ozark Mountains. Northeastern's home, Tahlequah, is also the capital of the Cherokee nation of Oklahoma...
(55-0) and Southwestern Oklahoma State
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Southwestern Oklahoma State University is a public university in Weatherford and Sayre, Oklahoma. It is one of seven state regional universities in the state of Oklahoma.The current president of SWOSU is Randy Beutler.-History:...
(45-7). McBirney's daughter, Mary McBirney, later recalled her father's devotion to coaching football: "We were always going to football games, sitting in the cold. We always had to sit on the top row so he could see all of the plays."
1916 season
In 1916, Kendall College's enrollment increased to 400 students, and McBirney petitioned the school to hire a full-time physical education teacher and assistant football coach. McBirney recommended that the school hire Arkansas City, KansasArkansas City, Kansas
Arkansas City is a city situated at the confluence of the Arkansas and Walnut rivers in the southwestern part of Cowley County, located in south-central Kansas, in the central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,415....
high school coach Francis Schmidt
Francis Schmidt
Francis Albert Schmidt was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at the University of Tulsa , the University of Arkansas , Texas Christian University , Ohio State University , and the University of Idaho , compiling a...
, who would later be 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...
.
With McBirney as head coach and Schmidt as his assistant coach, the 1916 Tulsa team compiled an undefeated 10-0 record and outscored opponents 566 to 40 to become the highest scoring college football team during the 1916 college football season
1916 college football season
The 1916 college football season had a very clear cut champion, with the Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book listing Army and Pittsburgh as national champions. Only Pittsburgh claims a national championship for the 1916 season....
. Kendall's 1916 games included high-scoring wins against Missouri-Rolla
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Missouri University of Science and Technology is an institution of higher learning located in Rolla, Missouri, United States, and part of the University of Missouri System...
(117-0), St. Gregory
St. Gregory's University
St. Gregory's University is a private, co-educational Catholic liberal arts university. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It has its main campus in Shawnee, and an additional campus in Tulsa.-History:St...
(82-0), Ozarks
University of the Ozarks
The University of the Ozarks is a private, four-year liberal arts, comprehensive university located in Clarksville, Arkansas, a community of just over 9,000 people and the county seat of Johnson County. U of O is located at the foot of the Ozark Mountains, about west of Little Rock...
(81-0), and Haskell Institute
Haskell Indian Nations University
Haskell Indian Nations University is a tribal university located in Lawrence, Kansas, for members of federally recognized Native American tribes in the United States...
(46-0). The 1916 team featured John Young, who had played for McBirney at Tulsa High School and who had been recruited by Fielding H. Yost to play for the University of Michigan, and Ivan Grove, who had played for Schmidt at Arkansas City High School and became the top scoring player in college football in 1916 with 196 points.
The 1916 team gained renown for its short passing offense and for the deceptive and unique play calling of McBirney and Schmidt. In one game, Ivan Grove completed 12 consecutive passes on a single scoring drive. In another game, the team successfully executed a play the called the "tower play." Ivan Grove threw a pass to Vergil Jones as he sat on the shoulders of Puny Blevins. The play resulted in a touchdown and was declared illegal the following year. Schmidt's biographer, Brett Perkins, has suggested that the short-passing game developed by McBirney and Schmidt in 1916 was later absorbed and perfected at TCU
TCU Horned Frogs football
The TCU Horned Frogs football team is the intercollegiate football team of Texas Christian University. TCU competes as a member of the Mountain West Conference in the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, but will move to the Big 12 Conference for the 2012 season. TCU began playing football...
by Dutch Meyer
Dutch Meyer
Leo R. "Dutch" Meyer was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Texas Christian University from 1934 to 1952, compiling a record of 109–79–13. His TCU Horned Frogs football teams of 1935 and 1938 have been recognized...
and Sammy Baugh
Sammy Baugh
Samuel Adrian "Slingin' Sammy" Baugh was an American football player and coach. He played college football for the Horned Frogs at Texas Christian University, where he was a two-time All-American. He then played in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins from 1937 to 1952...
.
In the lowest scoring game of the 1916 season, Kendall College defeated the Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma Sooners
The University of Oklahoma features 19 varsity sports teams. Both men's and women's teams are called the Sooners, a nickname given to the early participants in the land rushes which initially opened the Oklahoma Indian Territory to non-native settlement. They participate in the NCAA's Division I-A,...
by a score of 16 to 0 at the Sooners' home field in Norman, Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma
Norman is a city in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, United States, and is located south of downtown Oklahoma City. It is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, Norman was to have 110,925 full-time residents, making it the third-largest city in Oklahoma and the...
. The victory at Norman broke a 18-game winning streak for Oklahoma, and was the first time that the Sooners were beaten in football by another school from Oklahoma. In the three games preceding the 1916 Oklahoma-Kendall game, Oklahoma had outscored its opponents 27-0, 107-0, and 140-0. The 1916 victory over the undefeated Sooners put Tulsa football on the map.
Historian and Tulsa journalist Jenk Jones recalled, "In 1916, there was a lot of agitation here to declare Tulsa the Champion of Mid America."
After the 1916 season, McBirney retired as Kendall's football coach to devote his full-time to the bank. McBirney had hand-picked Francis Schmidt as his successor, but Schmidt enlisted in the U.S. Army after the United States entered World War I in April 1917. After two years of military service, Schmidt led the team to back-to-back undefeated seasons in 1919 and 1920 before moving on to a successful coaching career with Arkansas
Arkansas Razorbacks football
The Arkansas Razorbacks football program is a college football team that represents the University of Arkansas. The team is a member of the Southeastern Conference's Western Division, which is in Division I's Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
, TCU
Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...
and Ohio State
Ohio State Buckeyes football
The Ohio State Buckeyes football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of The Ohio State University. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the NCAA, playing at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A, level. The team nickname is derived from the state...
.
Inspirational director for Oklahoma Sooners
Although McBirney retired from coaching, he later assisted the Oklahoma SoonersOklahoma Sooners
The University of Oklahoma features 19 varsity sports teams. Both men's and women's teams are called the Sooners, a nickname given to the early participants in the land rushes which initially opened the Oklahoma Indian Territory to non-native settlement. They participate in the NCAA's Division I-A,...
' head football coach Bennie Owen
Bennie Owen
Benjamin Gilbert Owen was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball...
as an "inspirational" director before key games.
Developer of early Tulsa skyscrapers
The success of the National Bank of Commerce allowed the McBirney brothers to form the McBirney Investment Company, with James as the president and Sam as the treasurer. The McBirney Investment Company built two of Tulsa's early skyscrapers. In 1923, they built a seven-story building originally known as the Bank of Commerce building, at 10 East Third Street. In 1928, they built the McBirney Building, a 10-story office building located at the southwest corner of Main and Third Streets in Tulsa.Aunt Chick
McBirney's wife, Nettie McBirneyNettie McBirney
Nettie Williams McBirney was a Tulsa inventor, writer and entrepreneur, who wrote a cooking column under the pseudonym Aunt Chick for the Tulsa Daily World from 1935 to 1955.-Biography:...
, gained national fame as a syndicated newspaper columnist beginning in 1935. Her column, written under the pseudonym Aunt Chick, taught readers about cooking. When McBirney found out that his wife had decided to write a newspaper column, he reportedly said, "That crazy woman will start a run on the bank if people think she has to work!"
McBirney married Nettie in 1913. The couple had four children: Susan Bush, Williams, Samuel, and Mary Megan Bryan.
Death
After a long illness, McBirney died at his home in Tulsa in January 1936 at age 58. At the time of his death, the Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
called him "one of the fathers of football in Oklahoma."