Wally Butts
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| Wally Butts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title | Head Coach | |
| College | Georgia | |
| Sport | Football | |
| Conference | Southeastern Conference | |
| Born | February 7, 1905 | |
| Place of birth | Milledgeville, Georgia | |
| Died | December 17, 1973 (aged 68) | |
| Career highlights | ||
| Overall | 140-86-9 | |
| Bowls | 5-2-1 | |
| Coaching stats | ||
| College Football DataWarehouse | ||
| Awards | ||
| SEC Championships = 1942, 1946, 1948, 1959
National Championships = 1942, 1946 (Williamson Poll) |
||
| Playing career | ||
| 1925-1929 | Mercer | |
| Position | End | |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | ||
| 1938 1939-1960 |
Georgia (Asst. coach) Georgia (Head Coach) |
|
| College Football Hall of Fame, 1997 | ||
James Wallace "Wally" Butts, Jr. (February 7, 1905 – December 17, 1973) was the head football coach (seasons 1939 through 1960) and athletic director (1939 to 1963) at the University of Georgia.
Contents |
[edit] College
Butts was a 1929 graduate of Mercer University where he played college football under coach Bernie Moore.[1]
[edit] University of Georgia
Wally Butts coached the Bulldogs for 21 seasons (1939 – 1960) and continued as athletic director until 1963.[2] Butts came to UGA as an assistant to Joel Hunt in 1938, but Hunt left UGA after a 5-4-1 season to take over at Wyoming; Butts succeeded to the post of head coach. During his tenure as head coach, Georgia won its first consensus NCAA Division 1-A college football national championship in 1942 and had a claim to the national championship in 1946 after finishing first in at least one national poll. [3]
Butts coached 1942 Heisman Trophy winner Frank Sinkwich and Maxwell Award winner Charley Trippi. The 1942 team that won the 1943 Rose Bowl over UCLA had finished #2 in the nation in the AP poll and was named National Champion by other polls. His teams also won four SEC championships – 1942, 1946, 1948 and 1959.[4] As head coach, Butts posted a 140-86-9 record (.615 winning percentage), including six bowl games. His bowl record was 5-2-1.[5]
Johnny Griffith, a former player and assistant coach to Wally Butts, succeeded to the position of head coach in 1961.
Butts was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1966 and in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997. [6]
In the 1960s, he filed a libel lawsuit against the Saturday Evening Post after it ran an article alleging that he and Bear Bryant had conspired to fix games. Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, as it ultimately became when it reached the Supreme Court, was a landmark libel case. The court ruled in his favor in 1967, and the Post was ordered to pay $3.06 million to him in damages, an amount which was later lowered to $460,000.[7] This settlement was seen as a contributing factor in the demise of the venerable Post two years later.[7]
Butts died suddenly at his home from an apparent heart attack in 1973 and was buried in Oconee Hill Cemetery in Athens.[7]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Thilenius, Ed; Jim Koger (1960). No Ifs, No Ands, a Lot of Butts: Twenty-one Years of Georgia Football. Atlanta, Georgia: Foote & Davies Company, p.8. LCCN 60-15266.
- ^ Former Head Coaches
- ^ Georgia Football National Championships
- ^ All-Time Winningest Division 1-A Teams
- ^ Official 2006 NCAA Divisions I-A and II-A Football Records Book, page 331
- ^ Wally Butts profile in the College Football Hall of Fame
- ^ a b c "Wally Butts, Ex-Georgia Coach, Dies; Won Large Libel Suit Coached Noted Players", New York Times, December 18, 1973, p. 46.
[edit] References
- Wally Butts (1905-1973). The New Georgia Encyclopedia (2002). Retrieved on 2006-03-22.
- Wally Butts. GeorgiaDogs.com. Retrieved on 2006-03-22.
- Milestones and SEC Titles. GeorgiaDogs.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-06.
- Thilenius, Ed; Jim Koger (1960). No Ifs, No Ands, a Lot of Butts: Twenty-one Years of Georgia Football. Atlanta, Georgia: Foote & Davies Company. LCCN 60-15266.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Joel Hunt |
Georgia Bulldogs Head Football Coach 1939–1960 |
Succeeded by Johnny Griffith |
|
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Butts, Wally |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Butts, Wallace ; Butts, James Wallace, Jr |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | American football player and coach |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1905-2-7 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Milledgeville, Georgia |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1973-12-17 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
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