John Sanders Counselman (February 18, 1880 – March 29, 1955) was an American college football player and coach, professor of mathematics, and civil engineer.[1] He played for Virginia Tech with Hunter Carpenter.[2] He also attended the University of Michigan.[3][4] Counselman coached Cumberland in 1905, and for Samford (then Howard) from 1906 to 1908, finishing after just the first two games of the latter season. He is the first coach in Samford history. Counselman was selected as a substitute for the Washington Post's All-Southern team.[5]
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 18, 1880 Cripple Creek, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | March 29, 1955 (aged 75) Gadsden, Alabama, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1900–1901 | VPI |
| Position(s) | Halfback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1905 | Cumberland (TN) |
| 1906–1908 | Howard (AL) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 14–14–1 |
Counselman was a professor at the College of William & Mary and Georgia Tech. He also taught in high schools in Birmingham, Alabama and Gadsden, Alabama and was the superintendent of schools for Tallahassee, Florida. Counselman died of a heart attack on March 29, 1955, at this home in Gadsden.[6]
Head coaching record
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland Bulldogs (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1905) | |||||||||
| 1905 | Cumberland | 5–4 | 3–2 | T–5th | |||||
| Cumberland: | 5–4 | 3–2 | |||||||
| Howard Crimson and Blue (Independent) (1906–1908) | |||||||||
| 1906 | Howard | 6–2–1 | |||||||
| 1907 | Howard | 3–6 | |||||||
| 1908 | Howard | 0–2[n 1] | |||||||
| Howard: | 9–10–1 | ||||||||
| Total: | 14–14–1 | ||||||||
Notes
edit- ^ Counselman resigned after the first two games of the 1908 season. Winton M. Blount served as head coach for the final four games. Howard finished the season with an overall record of 2–4.
References
edit- ^ "A Guide to the J. S. Counselman Letter, 1906 Counselman, J. S. Letter Ms1993-009". virginia.edu.
- ^ "Class Of 1902 -- Biographical Sketches - History of Virginia Tech - Virginia Tech". vt.edu. December 6, 2013.
- ^ "General Register". google.com. 1907.
- ^ "College of Engineering". google.com. 1905.
- ^ Oscar P. Schmidt (1902). "Football in the Southern Colleges". The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide: 129.
- ^ "John Counselman, engineer, educator, athlete, is buried". The Birmingham News. Birmingham, Alabama. March 30, 1955. p. 16. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via Newspapers.com
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