Branch Bocock
James Branch Bocock (March 10, 1884 – May 25, 1946) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach.[1] He served as the head football coach at the University of Georgia (1908), Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (VPI)—now known as Virginia Tech (1909–1910, 1912–1915), the University of North Carolina (1911), Louisiana State University (1920–1921),[2] the University of South Carolina (1925–1926), and The College of William & Mary (1928–1930, 1936–1938), compiling a career college football record of 98–55–9. Bocock was also the head basketball coach at VPI (1909–1911, 1913–1915), LSU (1920–1921),[3] and South Carolina (1924–1927), tallying a career college basketball mark of 109–33, and the head baseball coach at VPI (1910–1911, 1914), LSU (1922–1923), and South Carolina (1925–1927), amassing a career college baseball record of 70–54–2.
 Bocock pictured in Yackety Yack 1912, North Carolina yearbook | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 10, 1884 Shenandoah, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | May 25, 1946 (aged 62) Blackstone, Virginia, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1903–1906 | Georgetown |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1908 | Georgia |
| 1909–1910 | VPI |
| 1911 | North Carolina |
| 1912–1915 | VPI |
| 1920–1921 | LSU |
| 1925–1926 | South Carolina |
| 1928–1930 | William & Mary |
| 1936–1938 | William & Mary |
| Basketball | |
| 1909–1911 | VPI |
| 1913–1915 | VPI |
| 1920–1921 | LSU |
| 1924–1927 | South Carolina |
| Baseball | |
| 1910–1911 | VPI |
| 1914 | VPI |
| 1922–1923 | LSU |
| 1925–1927 | South Carolina |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1909 | VPI |
| 1925–1926 | South Carolina |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 98–55–9 (football) 109–33 (basketball) 70–54–4 (baseball) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Football 2 Virginia Conference (1929–1930) Basketball 1 SoCon regular season (1927) | |
Early years
Bocock was a quarterback for the Georgetown Hoyas.[4]
Coaching career
Although official records give Bocock credit only for coaching the Georgia Bulldogs football team in 1908, he also coached the last three games of Georgia's 1907 season. In 1907, Georgia head football coach Bull Whitney was caught in a controversy over the revelation that there were at least four paid professionals on the Georgia and Georgia Tech teams during the game played that year. As a result, Georgia removed all known ringers from its team and Whitney was forced to resign, handing the coaching duties over to Bocock for the last three games. Georgia was 2–1 in those three games.
At VPI, Bocock was the team's first true professional coach and the first head football coach to receive a full-time salary.[5]
Later life
Bocock died at the age of 62 on May 25, 1946, at his home in Blackstone, Virginia.[6]
Head coaching record
Football
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia Bulldogs (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1908) | |||||||||
| 1908 | Georgia | 5–2–1 | 3–2–1 | 6th | |||||
| Georgia: | 5–2–1 | 3–2–1 | |||||||
| VPI (Independent) (1909–1910) | |||||||||
| 1909 | VPI | 6–1 | |||||||
| 1910 | VPI | 6–2 | |||||||
| North Carolina Tar Heels (Independent) (1911) | |||||||||
| 1911 | North Carolina | 6–1–1 | |||||||
| North Carolina: | 6–1–1 | ||||||||
| VPI Gobblers (South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1912–1915) | |||||||||
| 1912 | VPI | 5–4 | |||||||
| 1913 | VPI | 7–1–1 | |||||||
| 1914 | VPI | 6–2–1 | |||||||
| 1915 | VPI | 4–4 | |||||||
| VPI: | 34–14–2 | ||||||||
| LSU Tigers (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1920–1921) | |||||||||
| 1920 | LSU | 5–3–1 | 1–3 | ||||||
| 1921 | LSU | 6–1–1 | 2–1–1 | ||||||
| LSU: | 11–4–2 | 3–4–1 | |||||||
| South Carolina Gamecocks (Southern Conference) (1925–1926) | |||||||||
| 1925 | South Carolina | 7–3 | 2–2 | T–10th | |||||
| 1926 | South Carolina | 6–4 | 4–2 | T–4th | |||||
| South Carolina: | 13–7 | 6–4 | |||||||
| William & Mary Indians (Virginia Conference) (1928–1930) | |||||||||
| 1928 | William & Mary | 6–3–2 | 5–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1929 | William & Mary | 8–2 | 5–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1930 | William & Mary | 7–2–1 | 5–0 | 1st | |||||
| William & Mary Indians (Southern Conference) (1936–1938) | |||||||||
| 1936 | William & Mary | 1–8 | 0–5 | 16th | |||||
| 1937 | William & Mary | 4–5 | 1–3 | 13th | |||||
| 1938 | William & Mary | 3–7 | 0–4 | 15th | |||||
| William & Mary: | 29–27–3 | 16–13 | |||||||
| Total: | 98–55–9 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
Basketball
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VPI (Independent) (1909–1911) | |||||||||
| 1909–10 | VPI | 11–0 | |||||||
| 1910–11 | VPI | 11–1 | |||||||
| VPI Gobblers (Independent) (1913–1916) | |||||||||
| 1913–14 | VPI | 14–5 | |||||||
| 1914–15 | VPI | 9–4 | |||||||
| 1915–16 | VPI | 12–3 | |||||||
| VPI: | 57–13 (.814) | ||||||||
| LSU Tigers (Southern Conference) (1920–1921) | |||||||||
| 1920–21 | LSU | 19–4 | 5–2 | ||||||
| LSU: | 19–4 (.826) | 5–2 (.714) | |||||||
| South Carolina Gamecocks (Southern Conference) (1924–1927) | |||||||||
| 1924–25 | South Carolina | 10–7 | 4–2 | ||||||
| 1925–26 | South Carolina | 9–5 | 4–2 | ||||||
| 1926–27 | South Carolina | 14–4 | 9–1 | 1st | |||||
| South Carolina: | 33–16 (.673) | 17–5 (.773) | |||||||
| Total: | 109–33 (.768) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
Baseball
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VPI (Southern Conference) (1910–1911) | |||||||||
| 1910 | VPI | ||||||||
| 1911 | VPI | ||||||||
| VPI Gobblers (Southern Conference) (1914) | |||||||||
| 1914 | VPI | 15–4–1 | |||||||
| VPI: | 38–18–2 (.672) | ||||||||
| LSU Tigers (Southern Conference) (1922–1923) | |||||||||
| 1922 | LSU | 7–6 | |||||||
| 1923 | LSU | 8–9–2 | |||||||
| LSU: | 15–15–2 (.500) | ||||||||
| South Carolina Gamecocks (Southern Conference) (1925–1927) | |||||||||
| 1925 | South Carolina | 4–9 | |||||||
| 1926 | South Carolina | 6–4 | |||||||
| 1927 | South Carolina | 7–8 | |||||||
| South Carolina: | 17–21 (.447) | ||||||||
| Total: | 70–54–4 (.563) | ||||||||
References
- "FamilySearch: Sign In". Familysearch.org. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
- "LSU Year-by-Year Records" (PDF). lsusports.net. p. 107. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 19, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
- "LSU Fighting Tigers Coaches". sports-reference.com. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
- "Georgetown's Captain". The Pittsburgh Press. February 13, 1906.
- "The first 117 seasons of football at Virginia Tech". hopkiesports.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
- "Branch Bocock, Vet Grid Coach, Dies". Miami Daily News. Associated Press. May 25, 1946. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
Further reading
- Reed, Thomas Walter (1949). Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press. History of the University of Georgia; Chapter XVII: Athletics at the University from the Beginning Through 1947 imprint pages 3493