Harris G. Cope Explained

Harris G. Cope
Birth Date:16 March 1880
Birth Place:Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
Death Place:Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Player Sport1:Football
Player Years2:1899–1901
Player Team2:Sewanee
Player Positions:Quarterback (football)
Third baseman (baseball)
Coach Sport1:Football
Coach Years2:1904
Coach Team2:Sewanee (assistant)
Coach Years3:1909–1916
Coach Team3:Sewanee
Coach Years4:1922–1923
Coach Team4:Howard (AL)
Admin Years1:1909–1913
Admin Team1:Sewanee
Admin Years2:1922–1924
Admin Team2:Howard (AL)
Overall Record:48–28–12
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 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.[1]

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.[2]

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.[3]

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.[4]

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.[5]

Legacy

Cope's disciples include:

Notes and References

  1. News: Howard Gets Coach Cope. Marvin McCarthy. Atlanta Constitution. 9. January 2, 1922. February 18, 2016. Newspapers.com.
  2. Book: The Mills, Cope, and related families of Georgia. 188. John Hunter Garland. 1962.
  3. News: Coach For Sewanee. August 31, 1909. Atlanta Georgian. December 14, 2014. December 14, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141214212958/http://atlnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/atlnewspapers/view?docId=news/aga1909/aga1909-3213.xml&query=%22All%20southern%22%20football&brand=atlnewspapers-brand. dead.
  4. Sports At Sewanee. James Gregg, Jr.. Sewanee Alumni News. 1949. 3.
  5. News: Horn . Blinkey . Blinkey Horn. Henderson-Brown Will Sub for Howard as Vandy's Foe Saturday . . . September 25, 1924 . 9 . December 21, 2020 . .