Harris G. Cope

Harris Goodwin Cope (March 16, 1880 – September 24, 1924) was an American football and baseball player and football coach. Cope was a member of the National Football Rules Committee in 1914–15.

Harris G. Cope
Cope c. 1913
Biographical details
Born(1880-03-16)March 16, 1880
Savannah, Georgia
DiedSeptember 24, 1924(1924-09-24) (aged 44)
Birmingham, Alabama
Alma materSewanee: The University of the South
Playing career
Football
1899–1901Sewanee
Position(s)Quarterback (football)
Third baseman (baseball)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1904Sewanee (assistant)
1909–1916Sewanee
1922–1923Howard (AL)
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1909–1913Sewanee
1922–?Howard (AL)
Head coaching record
Overall48–28–12
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1 SIAA (1909)

Playing years

Cope first played at Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut.[1]

Sewanee
Cope c. 1901

Football

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]

Baseball

He played third baseman on the Sewanee baseball team.

Coaching years

Cope coached at Sewanee: University of the South and Howard College.[3] He worked for a short time as a business man in Cartersville before returning to Sewanee to coach in 1909.[4]

Sewanee

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.[5]

1909

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

Former Sewanee player Bob Taylor Dobbins assisted Cope at Howard.

Legacy

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
Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Sewanee Tigers (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1909–1916)
1909 Sewanee 6–15–01st
1910 Sewanee 8–23–1T–3rd
1911 Sewanee 6–3–12–39th
1912 Sewanee 5–1–22–1–25th
1913 Sewanee 4–32–27th
1914 Sewanee 5–34–25th
1915 Sewanee 4–3–22–2–210th
1916 Sewanee 5–2–22–2–214th
Sewanee: 43–18–722–14–6
Howard Bulldogs (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1922–1923)
1922 Howard 2–6–2
1923 Howard 3–4–3
Howard: 5–10–5
Total:48–28–12
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

References
  1. Marvin McCarthy (January 2, 1922). "Howard Gets Coach Cope". Atlanta Constitution. p. 9. Retrieved February 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. John Hunter Garland (1962). The Mills, Cope, and related families of Georgia. p. 188.
  3. "Harris Cope".
  4. "Coach For Sewanee". Atlanta Georgian. August 31, 1909.
  5. James Gregg, Jr. (1949). "Sports At Sewanee". Sewanee Alumni News: 3.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.