The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Stagg, Amos Alonzo
1862–1965, American football coach, b. West Orange, N.J., grad. Yale, 1888. He played end on the Yale football team and began his career as a coach (1889–91) at Springfield (Mass.) College. In 1892 he became athletic director at the Univ. of Chicago, coaching football there until 1933. In these 41 years he five times (1899, 1905, 1908, 1913, and 1924) coached undefeated teams. An authority on football, Stagg served (1904–32) on the football rules committee. Because of his age, he was compelled to resign his post at the Univ. of Chicago, but the “grand old man of football” later coached (1933–46) at the College of the Pacific and was (1947–52) assistant coach to his son at Susquehanna Univ. He collaborated in writing several books on football and is credited with the invention of numerous innovations in football play.
