Jimmy Robertson | |
Birth Date: | 8 March 1901 |
Birth Place: | Aberdeen, Scotland |
Death Place: | Akron, Ohio, U.S. |
Player Team1: | Carnegie Tech |
Player Years2: | 1924–1925 |
Player Team2: | Akron Pros |
Player Positions: | Fullback, halfback |
Coach Years1: | 1933 |
Coach Team1: | Geneva |
Overall Record: | 7–3 |
Championships: | 1 Tri-State (1933) |
James A. Robertson (March 8, 1901 – December 31, 1974) was an American football player and coach.
After playing high school football in Allegheny, Pennsylvania,[1] Robertson was expected to go to West Point.[2] Instead, he went on to college and played college football at Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (now called Carnegie Mellon University).[3] Under coach Walter Steffen,[4] the squad played teams such as Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Purdue, Michigan State, and USC.[5] Robertson was team captain and proved instrumental to several key victories in school history.[6] He is considered one of the best players in the history of the school.[7]
After college, Robertson played for the Akron Pros of the National Football League (NFL) in 1924 and 1925.[8] under head coaches Wayne Brenkert[9] and Scotty Bierce[10] He played for 16 games for Akron, recording statistics on both offense and defense.[11]
Robertson was the 16th head football coach at Geneva College located in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and he held that position for the 1933 season-the original plan was for him to coach at Geneva for only one year.[12] His coaching record at Geneva was 6–3 Robertson's first game as head coach was a 47 to 0 victory over the California Teacher's College in Pennsylvania.[13] After one season, Robertson was expected to be retained as head coach as late as January 1934.[14]