Samuel Harding (American football)

Samuel Herbert "Pop" Harding (January 19, 1873 – May 19, 1919) was an American college football player and coach. He served as head football coach at Maryland Agricultural College—now known as the University of Maryland, College Park—in 1893 and led the team to a perfect 6–0 record and its first winning season.

Samuel Harding
Harding at Maryland in 1892
Biographical details
Born(1873-01-19)January 19, 1873
Highland, Maryland, U.S.
DiedMay 19, 1919(1919-05-19) (aged 46)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Playing career
1892–1894Maryland
Position(s)Tackle
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1893Maryland
1899Maryland (interim HC)
Head coaching record
Overall6–0

Biography

Harding was born on January 19, 1873, in Highland, Maryland.[1] He attended the Maryland Agricultural College (now the University of Maryland), where he played on the football team as a tackle from 1892 to 1894.[2] In 1899, the Baltimore American wrote that he was "regarded as one of the best general athletes the college ever had."[3] Harding served as the team captain and player-coach during the 1893 season and the Aggies amassed a perfect 6–0 record.[4] His assistant coach was fullback Arthur Pue Gorman Jr., son of a United States Senator from Maryland.[5] Harding graduated from Maryland Agricultural College in 1895 with a Bachelor of Science degree from the Scientific Course.[1][6]

Beginning in 1896, Harding worked as a skilled laborer for the Water Department in Washington, D.C.[1] In the first football game of the 1899 season, Maryland was defeated, 21–0, by Western Maryland, and its coach and best player, fullback S. S. Cooke, was forced to retire after an arm injury.[3] The athletic director, H. A. Harrison, decided the team would finish out its schedule, and Harding returned to fill in as coach.[3]

Harding married Marian Boyle on October 15, 1901.[1] In 1906, he rose to the position of foreman in the Water Department.[1] Harding later worked as a clerk for the Washington, D.C. city government. He died on May 17, 1919, and was interred in Forest Glen, Maryland.[7]

Head coaching record
Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Maryland Aggies (Independent) (1906)
1893 Maryland 6–0
Maryland: 6–0
Total:6–0

References
  1. Alumni record of the Maryland Agricultural College: 1914, p. 44, Maryland Agricultural College, 1914.
  2. All-Time Lettermen Archived 2018-10-26 at the Wayback Machine (PDF), 2007 Terrapin Football Record Book, p. 19, University of Maryland, 2007.
  3. AGRICULTURAL BOYS BLUE. Poor Showing of the College Eleven, Cooke to Retire, and Prospects Poor. (Special to The American.), Baltimore American, October 23, 1899.
  4. 2007 Terrapin Football Record Book, p. 2, University of Maryland, 2007.
  5. Morris Allison Bealle, Kings of American Football: The University of Maryland, 1890–1952, p. 16, Columbia Publishing Co., 1952.
  6. AGGIE ALUMNI HAVE REUNION, The Sun, June 14, 1911.
  7. District of Columbia Deaths and Burials, 1840-1964 for Samuel Herbert Harding Archived 2012-12-20 at archive.today, Family Search, retrieved October 2, 2011.
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