Harris G. Cope
 Coach Cope c. 1913 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 16, 1880 Savannah, Georgia |
| Died | September 24, 1924 (aged 44) Birmingham, Alabama |
| Alma mater | Sewanee: The University of the South |
| Playing career | |
| Position(s) | Third baseman/Quarterback |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 48–28–12 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1 SIAA (as player) (1899) 1 SIAA (as coach) (1909) | |
Harris Goodwin Cope (March 16, 1880 – September 24, 1924) was an American football and baseball player and football coach. Cope was a member of the National Football Rules Committee in 1914-15.
Playing years
Sewanee
Football
Cope was a member of the undefeated "Iron Men" of the 1899 Sewanee Tigers football team and captain and quarterback of Sewanee's 1901 team.[1]
Baseball
He played third baseman on the Sewanee baseball team.
Coaching years
Cope coached at Sewanee: University of the South and Howard College.[2] He worked for a short time as a business man in Cartersville before returning to Sewanee to coach in 1909.[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 an 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.
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 | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sewanee Tigers (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1909–1916) | |||||||||
| 1909 | Sewanee | 6–1 | 5–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1910 | Sewanee | 8–2 | 3–1 | T&ndash'3rd | |||||
| 1911 | Sewanee | 6–3–1 | 2–3 | 9th | |||||
| 1912 | Sewanee | 5–1–2 | 2–1–2 | 6th | |||||
| 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 | |||||||
| 1923 | Howard | 3–4–3 | |||||||
| Howard: | 5–10–5 | ||||||||
| Total: | 48–28–12 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
References
- ^ John Hunter Garland (1962). The Mills, Cope, and related families of Georgia. p. 188.
- ^ "Harris Cope".
- ^ "Coach For Sewanee". Atlanta Georgian. August 31, 1909.
- ^ James Gregg, Jr. (1949). "Sports At Sewanee". Sewanee Alumni News: 3.