Era for era, pound for pound, talent for talent, the greatest football coach in Rutgers history was born on this day in 1870. Inventor of the coaching tower; game filming an opponent; the mass play and the multiple kick and other college football innovations of the day. He sought out the best teams to get to play him and many refused having concerns that a loss would ruin their season. Princeton stopped scheduling Rutgers with him as coach after three close games. He died at Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan on the operating table in 1938 after suffering a heart attack. A Rutgers football program from later that year said that when he didn't pull through, "...the doctors cried."
Rutgers Head Football Coach
1913-1923: George Foster "Foster" or “Sandy” Sanford
Born: June 4, 1870 Died May 23, 1938
George Foster Sanford was a star center at Yale in the early 1890s. He also played against Rutgers for the New York Athletic Club in 1892 (along with Philip Brett ’91 and Walter Scudder ’91) and scored two touchdowns and a goal-after-touchdown in a 14-0 win against the Scarlet on October 14, 1893. He coached the Columbia team back from non-existence to go 22-11-1 from 1899-1901 including three shutouts of Rutgers at Neilson Field. He also coached the 1904 Virginia team to 6-3 record. He was considered a brilliant and creative coach that had a reputation for turning small programs into world beaters and he decided to move his insurance practice to Wall Street, return to coaching, and take on the Rutgers challenge. He said he would make Rutgers a national champion within five years and nearly accomplished that. It took a World War to stop him. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971 mostly based on his coaching at Rutgers. He total salary at Rutgers? Zero... zilch...nada. All he asked was that the Administration wouldn't interfere with his coaching. And they didn't.
The new Rutgers head football coach was not a “players coach” according to the June 4, 1913 Washington Times, “Foster Sanford, famed football player and coach, says that ‘Yale has taken the man out of football,’ and blames this for the recent poor work of Eli elevens. Foster prefers the old style tactics, howling and yelling at the players, and putting ‘pep’ into them by many and varied insults. He may be right, too, for when he was at Yale the Blue made winners by this method.”
The December 7, 1924 Sunday Times of New Brunswick interviewed long-time statistics whiz Fred “Pop” Hart about the man who was affectionately called “Old He” or “Big He” around Rutgers. Hart said he was one of the greatest coaches in America and a natural born leader and of a type who sway men toward him, “He is just the man I would like to have around me in a panic or on a sinking ship” was Pop’s description of Sanford’s born leadership.
The December 4, 1923 Targum said about 300 were on hand inside the Ballantine Gymnasium at the last official function of Rutgers head football coach George Foster Sanford. After the annual football dinner, about 150 assembled for a 10:30 pm bonfire held on the site of the first game played in college football in 1869. The December 7, 1923 Daily Home News said, “Sandy’s closing words were brief but impressive. He said simply: ‘Rutgers, the future lies before you. Hazel, Waite, Gibson and Benkert, the future lies before you. Get behind it. Upstream Rutgers, ever and anon.’”
Rutgers Head Football Coach
1913-1923: George Foster "Foster" or “Sandy” Sanford
Born: June 4, 1870 Died May 23, 1938
George Foster Sanford was a star center at Yale in the early 1890s. He also played against Rutgers for the New York Athletic Club in 1892 (along with Philip Brett ’91 and Walter Scudder ’91) and scored two touchdowns and a goal-after-touchdown in a 14-0 win against the Scarlet on October 14, 1893. He coached the Columbia team back from non-existence to go 22-11-1 from 1899-1901 including three shutouts of Rutgers at Neilson Field. He also coached the 1904 Virginia team to 6-3 record. He was considered a brilliant and creative coach that had a reputation for turning small programs into world beaters and he decided to move his insurance practice to Wall Street, return to coaching, and take on the Rutgers challenge. He said he would make Rutgers a national champion within five years and nearly accomplished that. It took a World War to stop him. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971 mostly based on his coaching at Rutgers. He total salary at Rutgers? Zero... zilch...nada. All he asked was that the Administration wouldn't interfere with his coaching. And they didn't.
The new Rutgers head football coach was not a “players coach” according to the June 4, 1913 Washington Times, “Foster Sanford, famed football player and coach, says that ‘Yale has taken the man out of football,’ and blames this for the recent poor work of Eli elevens. Foster prefers the old style tactics, howling and yelling at the players, and putting ‘pep’ into them by many and varied insults. He may be right, too, for when he was at Yale the Blue made winners by this method.”
The December 7, 1924 Sunday Times of New Brunswick interviewed long-time statistics whiz Fred “Pop” Hart about the man who was affectionately called “Old He” or “Big He” around Rutgers. Hart said he was one of the greatest coaches in America and a natural born leader and of a type who sway men toward him, “He is just the man I would like to have around me in a panic or on a sinking ship” was Pop’s description of Sanford’s born leadership.
The December 4, 1923 Targum said about 300 were on hand inside the Ballantine Gymnasium at the last official function of Rutgers head football coach George Foster Sanford. After the annual football dinner, about 150 assembled for a 10:30 pm bonfire held on the site of the first game played in college football in 1869. The December 7, 1923 Daily Home News said, “Sandy’s closing words were brief but impressive. He said simply: ‘Rutgers, the future lies before you. Hazel, Waite, Gibson and Benkert, the future lies before you. Get behind it. Upstream Rutgers, ever and anon.’”
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