George Sanford
George Sanford went 78–48–7 as a head coach, 1896–1923, at Cornell, Columbia, Virginia and Rutgers. Wikipedia’s season articles record two seasons differently (1913, 6–3 and 1915, 7–1); by them his record is 91–49–7. By his Wikipedia article’s season table, which differs from the games on file in two seasons (1899–1900), his record is 89–49–7. Share
Two seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1896 at Cornell; 1904 at Virginia. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 78–48–7 career
- Seasons
- 16
- Schools
- 4
- AP poll
- Began in 1936, after this career
- Hall of Fame
- 1971 inducted
- Best season
- 1917 7–1–1
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1896 | Cornell * | 5–3–1 | ||||
| 1897–98: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1899 | Columbia | 9–3 | ||||
| 1900 | Columbia | 7–3–1 | ||||
| 1901 | Columbia | 8–5 | ||||
| 1902–03: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1904 | Virginia * | 6–3 | ||||
| 1905–12: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1913 | Rutgers | 0–2 (Wikipedia: 6–3) | ||||
| 1914 | Rutgers | 5–3–1 | ||||
| 1915 | Rutgers | 0–1 (Wikipedia: 7–1) | ||||
| 1916 | Rutgers | 3–2–2 | ||||
| 1917 | Rutgers | 7–1–1 | ||||
| 1918 | Rutgers | 5–2 | ||||
| 1919 | Rutgers | 5–3 | ||||
| 1920 | Rutgers | 2–7 | ||||
| 1921 | Rutgers | 4–5 | ||||
| 1922 | Rutgers | 5–4 | ||||
| 1923 | Rutgers | 7–1–1 | ||||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
Players he coached
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against rivals | 11 | 1–9–1 | 14% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 31 | 12–13–6 | 48% |
| At home | 72 | 48–20–4 | 69% |
| On the road | 43 | 19–22–2 | 47% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 69 | 55–11–3 | 82% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 46 | 12–31–3 | 29% |
His own 115 games on file, 1899–1923, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frank “Buck” O’Neill 1914–1919 | 0–3–1 | Syracuse | 4 | |
| Mont McIntire 1916–1920 | 0–2–2 | West Virginia | 4 | |
| Pop Warner 1899–1901 | 2–1 | Carlisle | 3 | |
| Tom Keady 1918–1920 | 1–2 | Lehigh | 3 | |
| Clarence Spears 1921–1923 | 1–2 | West Virginia | 3 | |
| Jock Sutherland 1921–1923 | 0–2–1 | Lafayette | 3 |
George Sanford’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| West Virginiaseries | 7 | 1–4–2 |
| Lehighseries | 6 | 3–3 |
| New York Universityseries | 5 | 5–0 |
| Ursinusseries | 5 | 4–1 |
| Princetonseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| Syracuseseries | 5 | 0–4–1 |
| Lafayetteseries | 4 | 1–2–1 |
| Rutgersseries | 3 | 3–0 |