John William Hobbs "Doc" Pollard (February 22, 1872 – May 2, 1957) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at Union College in Schenectady, New York, from 1897 to 1899, at Lehigh University in 1901, at the University of Rochester from 1902 to 1904, at the University of Alabama from 1906 to 1909, and at Washington and Lee University from 1910 to 1911, compiling a career college football record of 56–43–8. Pollard also coached baseball at Alabama from 1907–1910 and at Washington and Lee, tallying a career college baseball mark of 86–31–1.
 Pollard pictured in The Calyx 1913, Washington and Lee yearbook | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 22, 1872 Brentwood, New Hampshire, U.S. |
| Died | May 2, 1957 (aged 85) Haverhill, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1891–1892 | Dartmouth |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1897–1899 | Union (NY) |
| 1901 | Lehigh |
| 1902–1904 | Rochester (NY) |
| 1906–1909 | Alabama |
| 1910–1911 | Washington and Lee |
| Basketball | |
| 1901–1912 | Lehigh |
| 1910–1913 | Washington and Lee |
| Baseball | |
| 1907–1910 | Alabama |
| 1912–1913 | Washington and Lee |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1907–1910 | Alabama |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 56–43–8 (football) 95–55 (basketball) 86–31–1 (baseball) |
Early life and education
editPollard was born on February 22, 1872, in Brentwood, New Hampshire. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1895 and earned an MD from the University of Vermont in 1901.[1]
Coaching career
editUnion
editPollard served as the head coach at Union College in Schenectady, New York, from 1897 to 1899.[2]
Lehigh
editPollard was the ninth head football coach for at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and he held that position for the 1901 season. His coaching record at Lehigh was 1–11.[3]
Alabama
editPollard was named the head football coach at the University of Alabama where he stayed from 1906 until the end of the 1909 season. He found more success at Alabama, where his teams accumulated a record of 21–4–5. Against Auburn in his first season, Pollard used a "military shift" never before seen in the south.[4]
His success at Alabama was not without failures. The first season Pollard coached the Crimson Tide, they achieved a record of 5–1. However, that one loss was a 78–0 thrashing by Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee. 1907, Pollard's second season at Alabama, was similar. The team produced a record of 5–1–2. However, the one loss was a 54–4 pounding by Sewanee. By 1909, his team produced more consistent results. No team scored on the Crimson Tide until the last two games, and their only loss came in the last game of the season by a score of 12–6 against LSU at home.
Washington and Lee
editPollard coached at Washington and Lee University in 1911, finishing with a record of 4–2–2.
Death
editPollard died on May 2, 1957.[5]
Head coaching record
editFootball
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union Garnet (Independent) (1897–1899) | |||||||||
| 1897 | Union | 4–4–1 | |||||||
| 1898 | Union | 8–1 | |||||||
| 1899 | Union | 1–5–1 | |||||||
| Union: | 13–10–1 | ||||||||
| Lehigh Brown and White (Independent) (1901) | |||||||||
| 1901 | Lehigh | 1–11 | |||||||
| Lehigh: | 1–11 | ||||||||
| Rochester Yellowjackets (Independent) (1902–1905) | |||||||||
| 1902 | Rochester | 3–6 | |||||||
| 1903 | Rochester | 4–4 | |||||||
| 1904 | Rochester | 6–3 | |||||||
| Rochester: | 13–13 | ||||||||
| Alabama Crimson Tide (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1906–1909) | |||||||||
| 1906 | Alabama | 5–1 | 4–1 | ||||||
| 1907 | Alabama | 5–1–2 | 3–1–2 | ||||||
| 1908 | Alabama | 6–1–1 | 2–1–1 | ||||||
| 1909 | Alabama | 5–1–2 | 4–1–2 | ||||||
| Alabama: | 21–4–5 | 13–4–5 | |||||||
| Washington and Lee Generals (Independent) (1910–1911) | |||||||||
| 1910 | Washington and Lee | 4–3 | |||||||
| 1911 | Washington and Lee | 4–2–2 | |||||||
| Washington and Lee: | 8–5–2 | ||||||||
| Total: | 56–43–8 | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ Emerson, Charles Franklin (1911). General Catalogue of Dartmouth College and the Associated Schools 1769-1910. Concord, New Hampshire: Rumford Press. p. 390. Retrieved October 31, 2011.
- ^ Annual Catalogue of Union University. Union University. 1895. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
- ^ Lehigh Coaching Records Archived December 10, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Walsh, Christopher (September 15, 2016). 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know & do Before They die. Triumph Books. ISBN 9781633196445.
- ^ "Dr. Pollard Dies; Former Dart. Coach". The Burlington Free Press. Burlington, Vermont. Associated Press. May 3, 1957. p. 23. Retrieved March 13, 2018 – via Newspapers.com
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