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Show iPEAKING Released by Western Newspaper Union. "D ACK in 1939, when Amos Alonzc Stagg was entering his 50th yeai of coaching, a widely read sports writer had this to say: "When his record-breaking coaching coach-ing service at the University of Chi cago was ended by compulsory retirement re-tirement in 1933, Stagg characteristically characteris-tically refused to quit the game and is rounding out his career in the comparative obscurity of a small campus at the College of the Pacific at Stockton, Calif., a city of 47,000, where he is regarded as the first citizen. At 81, Stagg unquestionably Is the first citizen of Stockton. But If he Is obscure, so is the sun on a cloudless cloud-less Fourth of July. His "obscurity" is on a nation-wide basis. Life Begins at 71 Ten years ago Stagg decided that life for him as a football coach would begin at 71. This season the oldest gridiron warrior of them all is confusing con-fusing the opposition with one of his best teams. His College of the Pa- - W- ! AMOS ALONZO STAGG cific squad won its first four games, losing the fifth, a heartbreaker, to unbeaten Southern California by a close 6-0 margin. College of the Pacific, until now little known athletically outside its own Far Western conference, in 1932 offered Stagg a lifetime coaching berth. Stagg put Pacific on the sports map, and today in bis 11th season and his 54th year of coaching he directs a team that beat St. Mary's Navy Pre-Flight, the University Univer-sity of California at Los Angeles, the University of California, and the Alameda Coast Guard before losing to Southern California. What accounts for Stagg's amazing amaz-ing success this year? Good material ma-terial is part of the answer. The navy transferred some outstanding backfield talent, including several St. Mary's College players headed by Pass Thrower John Podesto. But a large share of the credit goes to the "Stagg system." He copies from no other coach. He conceived con-ceived the flanker at Chicago in 1918 and it is a vital part of today's system. sys-tem. He is using some of his oldest stuff, with a few new twists, to trick his opponents. The Development Stagg's "oldest stuff" is really well seasoned. The Grand Old Man of the game watched football develop from the kicking stage to the carrying carry-ing stage to the passing stage. He recalls the 15-man team and the era when the center then called the "snapperback" had to pass the ball with his foot. There was the celebrated "maul in goal," when the .runner and tackier might wrestle for 10 or 15 minutes over getting the ball grounded for a touchdown. He saw the origin of the term "gridiron." The term was first used when the field was marked off in parallel stripes. He witnessed the introduction of interference, once strictly forbidden, and of the revolutionary revo-lutionary forward pass. Stagg was playing with Yale when slugging was abolished. His was the day of superschedules. His 1894 squad played 22 games. He coached during the period when indoor football foot-ball was popular. Inventions In 1889 Stagg invented the tackling dummy. He was a member of the first team to use numerical signals. He was the first man to have the quarterback receive the ball. His fake kicks always have been a headache head-ache to opponents. The tackles-back and turtle-back plays, famous in their day, were his own inventions. His applications of the forward pass contributed much io ground gaining strategy. He was the first coach to number players for the spectators' convenience. Stagg first coached at YMCA college col-lege at Springfield, Mass., during the time he was a student there. That was 54. years ago. Today Stagg is still out on the field in Stockton, turning out a great football foot-ball team. Sports followers who had heard little of Pacific until this year took his recent defeat to heart. They wanted the Old Man to win. More than any other coach he symbolizes football at its best. An undefeated season would have meant a great deal to Stagg, but defeat de-feat doesn't lessen his overwhelming pride in his boys. I |
