James A. Robertson (March 8, 1901 – December 31, 1974) was an American football player and coach.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 8, 1901 Aberdeen, Scotland |
| Died | December 31, 1974 (aged 73) Akron, Ohio, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| c. 1920 | Carnegie Tech |
| 1924–1925 | Akron Pros |
| Position(s) | Fullback, halfback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1933 | Geneva |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 7–3 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1 Tri-State (1933) | |
Playing career
editCarnegie Tech
editAfter 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]
Akron Pros
editAfter 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]
Coaching career
editRobertson 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]
Head coaching record
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geneva Covenanters (Tri-State Conference) (1933) | |||||||||
| 1933 | Geneva | 7–3 | 4–0 | 1st | |||||
| Geneva: | 7–3 | 4–0 | |||||||
| Total: | 7–3 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
References
edit- ^ Database Football Archived 2011-11-23 at the Wayback Machine Jimmy Robertson
- ^ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Sidelights on Sports" by Al Abrams 9 March 1942
- ^ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Mirrors of Sport" 7 November 1931
- ^ Carnegie Mellon Athletics All-Time Coaching Records
- ^ Carnegie Mellon University All-Time Football Scores
- ^ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Tech Scored First Grid Win Over Wash-Jeff 26 Years Ago" by Jack Sell, 30 October 1946
- ^ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Tech Clan Honors Stars" 17 January 1942
- ^ Pro Football Reference James Robertson
- ^ Pro Football Reference 1924 Akron Pros
- ^ Pro Football Reference 1925 Akron Pros
- ^ JT-SW.com James Robertson
- ^ New Castle News "Here and There in Sports" 27 March 1933
- ^ New York Times "GENEVA VICTOR, 47 TO 0.; Opens Football Season by Routing California Teachers." 23 September 1933
- ^ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Act on Genevea Coaches Soon-Robertson, Schmidt are Certain to Remain" 27 January 1934
External links
edit- Career statistics from NFL.com · Pro Football Reference