| James F. Lanagan | |
| Birth Date: | 16 November 1878 |
| Birth Place: | Paris, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Applegate, California, U.S. |
| Player Sport1: | Baseball |
| Player Years2: | 1897–1900 |
| Player Team2: | Stanford |
| Coach Sport1: | Football |
| Coach Years2: | 1903–1905 |
| Coach Team2: | Stanford |
| Coach Sport3: | Rugby |
| Coach Years4: | 1906–1908 |
| Coach Team4: | Stanford |
| Coach Sport5: | Baseball |
| Coach Years6: | 1906–1907 |
| Coach Team6: | Stanford |
| Overall Record: | 23–2–4 (football) 26–8–1 (rugby) 9–19–2 (baseball) |
| Coaching Records: | Highest win percentage of a multi-season football coach in Stanford history (.862) |
James Francis Lanagan (November 16, 1878 – August 7, 1937) was an American football, rugby, and baseball coach at Stanford University.
Lanagan played college baseball at Stanford from 1897 to 1900.[1] In 1902, he married Clara Earl, a fellow member of the Stanford Class of 1900.[2]
In 1903, despite never having played football, Lanagan was selected as Stanford's head football coach, and coached the team for three years, compiling an overall record of 23–2–4.[1]
Following the 1905 season, Stanford, responding like other American universities to concerns about the violence in football, dropped football in favor of rugby from 1906 to 1917.[3] [4] Despite having no knowledge of the sport, Lanagan was retained as the rugby coach, spending time in Vancouver, British Columbia and Australia to study the sport.[1] In his first season, the team ended with a 6–2–1 season. Lanagan remained as rugby coach for two more seasons.[1] He also served as Stanford's baseball coach from 1906 to 1907.[1] [5]
Lanagan attended Stanford Law School from 1905 to 1907. He resigned from coaching in 1908 to focus on his law practice.[6]
During World War I, Lanagan was a major in the United States Army, fighting in France, where he contracted a lung disease that would eventually result in his death two decades later.[7]