Wallace Butts
Wallace Butts went 140–86–9 as a head coach, 1939–1960, at Georgia. His 1942 Georgia team claims the national title. Share
- Record
- 140–86–9 career
- Seasons
- 22
- Schools
- 1
- National titles
- 1 claimed: 1942
- Hall of Fame
- 1997 inducted
- Best season
- 1942 11–1, No. 2
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | Georgia | 5–6 | 8th | |||
| 1940 | Georgia | 5–4–1 | 7th | |||
| 1941 | Georgia | 9–1–1 | 4th | Orange Bowl W | 14 | |
| 1942 | Georgia | 11–1 | 1st | Rose Bowl W | 2 | |
| 1943 | Georgia | 6–4 | 4th | |||
| 1944 | Georgia | 7–3 | T–3rd | |||
| 1945 | Georgia | 9–2 | 4th | Oil Bowl W | 18 | |
| 1946 | Georgia | 11–0 | T–1st | Sugar Bowl W | 3 | |
| 1947 | Georgia | 7–4–1 | T–4th | Gator Bowl T | ||
| 1948 | Georgia | 9–2 | 1st | Orange Bowl L | 8 | |
| 1949 | Georgia | 4–6–1 | T–10th | |||
| 1950 | Georgia | 6–3–3 | 6th | Presidential Cup Bowl L | ||
| 1951 | Georgia | 5–5 | T–9th | |||
| 1952 | Georgia | 7–4 | 5th | |||
| 1953 | Georgia | 3–8 | T–10th | |||
| 1954 | Georgia | 6–3–1 | 5th | |||
| 1955 | Georgia | 4–6 | 11th | |||
| 1956 | Georgia | 3–6–1 | 12th | |||
| 1957 | Georgia | 3–7 | 9th | |||
| 1958 | Georgia | 4–6 | 10th | |||
| 1959 | Georgia | 10–1 | 1st | Orange Bowl W | 5 | |
| 1960 | Georgia | 6–4 | 6th |
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.
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 ranked teams | 38 | 12–24–2 | 34% |
| Against top-10 teams | 18 | 4–14 | 22% |
| Against rivals | 103 | 54–47–2 | 53% |
| Conference games | 132 | 67–60–5 | 53% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 8 | 5–2–1 | 69% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 85 | 39–37–9 | 51% |
| At home | 99 | 66–28–5 | 69% |
| On the road | 83 | 44–37–2 | 54% |
| At neutral sites | 53 | 30–21–2 | 58% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 153 | 113–36–4 | 75% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 82 | 27–50–5 | 36% |
His own 235 games on file, 1939–1960, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Dodd 1945–1960 | 7–9 | Georgia Tech | 16 | |
| Bob Woodruff 1950–1959 | 4–6 | Florida | 10 | |
| Ralph Jordan 1951–1960 | 3–7 | Auburn | 10 | |
| Bear Bryant 1946–1960 | 3–5 | Kentucky, Texas A&M, Alabama | 8 | |
| Red Drew 1947–1954 | 1–6–1 | Alabama | 8 | |
| Arthur Guepe 1954–1960 | 4–3 | Vanderbilt | 7 | |
| Frank Howard 1944–1955 | 5–1 | Clemson | 6 | |
| Raymond Wolf 1946–1953 | 5–1 | Florida, Tulane | 6 | |
| William Alexander 1939–1944 | 3–3 | Georgia Tech | 6 | |
| Gaynell Tinsley 1948–1953 | 3–2–1 | LSU | 6 |
Wallace Butts’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Georgia Techseries | 22 | 10–12 |
| Floridaseries | 21 | 12–9 |
| Auburnseries | 21 | 11–9–1 |
| Alabamaseries | 19 | 7–11–1 |
| Kentuckyseries | 14 | 9–4–1 |
| LSUseries | 11 | 4–6–1 |
| North Carolinaseries | 10 | 6–3–1 |
| Vanderbiltseries | 8 | 5–3 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1929–31 | Madison A&M | Graduate assistant | |
| 1932–34 | Georgia Military | Head coach | |
| 1935–37 | Louisville MS (KY) high school | Head coach | |
| 1938 | Georgia | Assistant coach | |
| 1939–60 | Georgia | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Joel HuntGeorgia
Assistants who became head coaches
- Ears WhitworthAlabama, Oklahoma State
- Jules SikesKansas, Blinn, Burleson, East Texas A&M
- Ralph JordanAuburn
- Johnny GriffithGeorgia, South Georgia
- Cal StollWake Forest, Minnesota
Coached under him, later head coaches (5)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ears Whitworth | Georgia, 1939–49, 1959: assistant coach | Alabama, Oklahoma State | |
| Jules Sikes | Georgia, 1939–42, 1945–47: ends coach | Kansas, Blinn, Burleson, East Texas A&M | |
| Ralph Jordan | Georgia, 1947–50: assistant coach | Auburn | |
| Johnny Griffith | Georgia, 1954: assistant freshmen; 1956–60: assistant coach | Georgia, South Georgia | |
| Cal Stoll | Georgia, 1957–58: defensive line coach | Wake Forest, Minnesota |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Books
Books: Open Library (CC0); most-reissued first, each linked to its page there.