Harris G. Cope - Misplaced Pages

American athlete and football coach (1880–1924)

Harris G. Cope
Biographical details
Cope, c. 1913
Born	(1880-03-16)March 16, 1880 Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
Died	September 24, 1924(1924-09-24) (aged 44) Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Playing career
Football
1899–1901	Sewanee

Position(s)	Quarterback (football) Third baseman (baseball)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1904	Sewanee (assistant)
1909–1916	Sewanee
1922–1923	Howard (AL)

Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1909–1913	Sewanee
1922–1924	Howard (AL)

Head coaching record
Overall	48–28–12
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1 SIAA (1909)

Harris Goodwin Cope (March 16, 1880 – September 24, 1924) was an American football and baseball player and football coach. He served as the head football coach at Sewanee: The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee from 1909 to 1916 and Howard College—now known as Samford University—in Marion, Alabama from 1922 to 1923, compiling a career college football coaching record of 48–28–12. Cope was a member of the National Football Rules Committee in 1914–15.

Early life and playing career

Cope first played at the Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut.

Sewanee

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.

Cope played third baseman on the Sewanee baseball team.

Coaching career

Cope worked for a short time as a business man in Cartersville before returning to Sewanee to coach in 1909. For many years, he returned to Cartersville during the off-seasons to manage the Cartersville Colts semi-professional men’s baseball team.

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.

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. Cope was also a very astute golfer, playing in club tournaments during his off-seasons.

Death

Cope died of pneumonia in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 24, 1924, just before the start of Howard's football season.

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	Conference	Standing
Sewanee Tigers (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1909–1916)
1909	Sewanee	6–1	5–0	1st
1910	Sewanee	8–2	3–1	T–3rd
1911	Sewanee	6–3–1	2–3	9th
1912	Sewanee	5–1–2	2–1–2	5th
1913	Sewanee	4–3	2–2	7th
1914	Sewanee	5–3	4–2	5th
1915	Sewanee	4–3–2	2–2–2	10th
1916	Sewanee	5–2–2	2–2–2	14th
Sewanee:		43–18–7	22–14–6
Howard Bulldogs (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1922–1923)
1922	Howard	2–6–2	0–2
1923	Howard	3–4–3	1–3–1
Howard:		5–10–5	1–5–1
Total:		48–28–12
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth

References

Marvin McCarthy (January 2, 1922). "Howard Gets Coach Cope". Atlanta Constitution. p. 9. Retrieved February 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
John Hunter Garland (1962). The Mills, Cope, and related families of Georgia. p. 188.
"Coach For Sewanee". Atlanta Georgian. August 31, 1909. Archived from the original on December 14, 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
James Gregg, Jr. (1949). "Sports At Sewanee". Sewanee Alumni News: 3.
Horn, Blinkey (September 25, 1924). "Henderson-Brown Will Sub for Howard as Vandy's Foe Saturday". The Tennessean. Nashville, Tennessee. p. 9. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via Newspapers.com .

External links

Harris G. Cope at Find a Grave

v t e Sewanee Tigers starting quarterbacks
Ellwood Wilson Alexander Blacklock Oscar Wilder Warbler Wilson Harris G. Cope Frank M. Osborne John Scarbrough C. Logan Eisele Walter Barrett Chigger Browne John Myers Frank M. Gillespie Lee Tolley William Herring Thomas Harper William K. Powers Bill Coughlan George H. Barker Jack Todd Harold Eustis John Shoop

v t e Sewanee Tigers athletic directors
Harris G. Cope (1909–1913) William Jennings Gardner (1914) Ray Fisher (1915) M. S. Bennett (1923–1930) Gordon M. Clark (1930–1952) William C. White (1953) Walter Bryant (1953–1984) Bill Huyck (1984–) Mark Webb (1995– )

v t e Sewanee Tigers head football coaches
F. G. Sweat (1891–1893) Herbert C. Foss (1894) William Ayres Reynolds (1895) Eddie Blair (1896) John Gere Jayne (1897–1898) Billy Suter (1899–1901) L. W. Boynton (1902) George S. Whitney (1903–1904) Willard Hyatt (1905) James John Quill (1906) Arthur G. Erwin (1907) Harry Van Surdam (1908) Harris G. Cope (1909–1916) Charles Best (1917–1918) Earl Abell (1919–1920) John Nicholson (1921–1922) M. S. Bennett (1923–1928) W. H. Kirkpatrick (1929) Harvey Harman (1930) Harry E. Clark (1931–1939) Jenks Gillem (1940–1941) No team (1942–1945) William C. White (1946–1953) Ernie Williamson (1954–1956) Shirley Majors (1957–1977) Horace Moore (1978–1986) Bill Samko (1987–1993) Al Logan (1994–1995) John Windham (1996–2006) Robert Black (2007–2010) Tommy Laurendine (2011–2016) Travis Rundle (2017–2022) Andy McCollum (2023– )

Sewanee Tigers head football coaches

F. G. Sweat (1891–1893)
Herbert C. Foss (1894)
William Ayres Reynolds (1895)
Eddie Blair (1896)
John Gere Jayne (1897–1898)
Billy Suter (1899–1901)
L. W. Boynton (1902)
George S. Whitney (1903–1904)
Willard Hyatt (1905)
James John Quill (1906)
Arthur G. Erwin (1907)
Harry Van Surdam (1908)
Harris G. Cope (1909–1916)
Charles Best (1917–1918)
Earl Abell (1919–1920)
John Nicholson (1921–1922)
M. S. Bennett (1923–1928)
W. H. Kirkpatrick (1929)
Harvey Harman (1930)
Harry E. Clark (1931–1939)
Jenks Gillem (1940–1941)
No team (1942–1945)
William C. White (1946–1953)
Ernie Williamson (1954–1956)
Shirley Majors (1957–1977)
Horace Moore (1978–1986)
Bill Samko (1987–1993)
Al Logan (1994–1995)
John Windham (1996–2006)
Robert Black (2007–2010)
Tommy Laurendine (2011–2016)
Travis Rundle (2017–2022)
Andy McCollum (2023– )

v t e Samford Bulldogs athletic directors
B. L. Noojin (1912–1915) Eugene Caton (1915–1916) John B. Longwell (1916–1917) Chester C. Dillon (1919–1920) Robert C. Marshall (1920–1922) Harris G. Cope (1922–1924) Chester C. Dillon (1925–1929) Eddie McLane (1929–1934) Billy Bancroft (1934–1940) William C. White (1940–1942) Euil Snider (1942–1944) Bub Walker (1944–1945) Clarence E. McCarver (1946–1948) Clayton Cornish (1949–1951) Earl Gartman (c. 1954) James E. Sharman (1955–1969) Evan Zeiger (1969–1984) Laverne A. Farmer # (1984–1985) Paul Dietzel (1985–1987) Stephen C. Allgood (1988–1999) Bob Roller (1999–2011) Martin Newton (2011– ) # denotes interim athletic director

Samford Bulldogs athletic directors

B. L. Noojin (1912–1915)
Eugene Caton (1915–1916)
John B. Longwell (1916–1917)
Chester C. Dillon (1919–1920)
Robert C. Marshall (1920–1922)
Harris G. Cope (1922–1924)
Chester C. Dillon (1925–1929)
Eddie McLane (1929–1934)
Billy Bancroft (1934–1940)
William C. White (1940–1942)
Euil Snider (1942–1944)
Bub Walker (1944–1945)
Clarence E. McCarver (1946–1948)
Clayton Cornish (1949–1951)
Earl Gartman (c. 1954)
James E. Sharman (1955–1969)
Evan Zeiger (1969–1984)
Laverne A. Farmer # (1984–1985)
Paul Dietzel (1985–1987)
Stephen C. Allgood (1988–1999)
Bob Roller (1999–2011)
Martin Newton (2011– )

# denotes interim athletic director

v t e Samford Bulldogs head football coaches
Houston Gwin (1902) Walter T. O'Hara (1903) Houston Gwin (1903) No team (1904) Davis F. Stakely (1905) John Counselman (1906–1908) Winton M. Blount (1908) John B. Longwell (1909) James C. Donnelly (1910) John B. Longwell (1911) B. L. Noojin (1912–1914) Eugene Caton (1915) John B. Longwell (1916–1917) C. W. Streit (1917) Maxwell James (1918) Chester C. Dillon (1919) Robert C. Marshall (1920–1921) Harris G. Cope (1922–1923) Jenks Gillem (1924–1926) Chester C. Dillon (1927–1928) Eddie McLane (1929–1933) Clyde Propst (1934) Billy Bancroft (1935–1939) William C. White (1940–1941) No team (1942) Euil Snider (1943) Bub Walker (1944–1945) No team (1946–1947) Ted McCrary (1948) Earl Gartman (1949–1953) William C. White (1954) Howard Foote (1955–1956) Virgil Ledbetter (1957–1958) Bobby Bowden (1959–1962) Bubba Scott (1963–1965) John Lee Armstrong (1966–1968) Wayne Grubb (1969–1973) No team (1974–1983) Kim Alsop (1984–1986) Terry Bowden (1987–1992) Chan Gailey (1993) Pete Hurt (1994–2001) Bill Gray (2001–2006) Pat Sullivan (2007–2014) Chris Hatcher (2015– )

Samford Bulldogs head football coaches

Houston Gwin (1902)
Walter T. O'Hara (1903)
Houston Gwin (1903)
No team (1904)
Davis F. Stakely (1905)
John Counselman (1906–1908)
Winton M. Blount (1908)
John B. Longwell (1909)
James C. Donnelly (1910)
John B. Longwell (1911)
B. L. Noojin (1912–1914)
Eugene Caton (1915)
John B. Longwell (1916–1917)
C. W. Streit (1917)
Maxwell James (1918)
Chester C. Dillon (1919)
Robert C. Marshall (1920–1921)
Harris G. Cope (1922–1923)
Jenks Gillem (1924–1926)
Chester C. Dillon (1927–1928)
Eddie McLane (1929–1933)
Clyde Propst (1934)
Billy Bancroft (1935–1939)
William C. White (1940–1941)
No team (1942)
Euil Snider (1943)
Bub Walker (1944–1945)
No team (1946–1947)
Ted McCrary (1948)
Earl Gartman (1949–1953)
William C. White (1954)
Howard Foote (1955–1956)
Virgil Ledbetter (1957–1958)
Bobby Bowden (1959–1962)
Bubba Scott (1963–1965)
John Lee Armstrong (1966–1968)
Wayne Grubb (1969–1973)
No team (1974–1983)
Kim Alsop (1984–1986)
Terry Bowden (1987–1992)
Chan Gailey (1993)
Pete Hurt (1994–2001)
Bill Gray (2001–2006)
Pat Sullivan (2007–2014)
Chris Hatcher (2015– )

v t e 1899 Sewanee Tigers football team – "Iron Men"
Wild Bill Claiborne Harris Cope Rex Kilpatrick Joseph Lee Kirby-Smith William H. Poole Henry Seibels Ormond Simkins Bart Sims Warbler Wilson Head coach Billy Suter Manager Luke Lea Trainer: Cal Burrows

1899 Sewanee Tigers football team – "Iron Men"

Head coach: Billy Suter
Manager: Luke Lea Trainer: Cal Burrows

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