Weekly Top 10: Best head coaches in Georgia football history
9. Glenn “Pop” Warner
Before Glenn “Pop” Warner became one of the most recognizable names in the sport, he spent two seasons as head coach of Georgia football in 1895 and 1896. In those two years he had a record of 7-4.
In 1895, Georgia defeated Wofford, Alabama and Sewanee, and they lost to Auburn, Vanderbilt and to North Carolina twice.
However, In 1896 Warner led Georgia to their first undefeated season in program history. The team not-yet-named the Bulldogs went 4-0, defeating Wofford, Sewanee, North Carolina and Auburn.
After leaving the University of Georgia, Warner coached at his alma mater Cornell for two seasons. He moved on to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School for five years after that but he returned to Cornell for another three years. His combined coaching record at Cornell was 36-13-3.
Warner went back to Carlisle in 1907 and stayed there until 1914. He coached Jim Thorpe, one of the first legends of American sports, and had five 10-win seasons during that second stint at Carlisle. His combined record there was 114-42-8.
The height of his coaching career was yet to come however. He left Carlisle, which closed down four years later, to begin coaching at Pittsburgh. He won National Championships in each of his first two years at Pittsburgh (1915 and 1916) and led them to a 10-0 season in 1917. Pittsburgh won another National title with Warner at the helm in 1918.
He was there for another five seasons and finished with a 60-12-4 record. He moved out west where college football was growing in popularity and became head coach at Stanford and led them to a National title in 1926. From 1924-32, Warner went 71-17-8 at Stanford.
His career ended back in Pennsylvania as head coach of Temple from 1933-38. His record at Temple was 31-18-9. He retired from coaching with a career record of 319-106-32.
He is one of the greatest head coaches in the history of college football. But having spent only two years in Athens, it’s hard to justify placing him higher up on the list of greatest head coaches in Georgia football history.