Tad Jones (American football)

Thomas Albert Dwight "Tad" Jones (February 22, 1887 – June 19, 1957) was an American football player and coach in the United States. He served as the head football coach at Syracuse University (1909–1910) and Yale University (1916–1917, 1920–1927), compiling a career college football record of 69–24–6.[n 1] He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1958.

Tad Jones
Biographical details
Born(1887-02-22)February 22, 1887
Excello, Ohio, U.S.
DiedJune 19, 1957(1957-06-19) (aged 70)
Hamden, Connecticut, U.S.
Playing career
1905–1907Yale
Position(s)Quarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1908Yale (assistant)
1909–1910Syracuse
1916–1917Yale
1920–1927Yale
Head coaching record
Overall69–24–6 (college)[n 1]
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
2× All-American (1906, 1907)
College Football Hall of Fame
Inducted in 1958 (profile)

Jones quarterbacked Yale to 6–0 and 12–0 victories versus Harvard as a junior and senior, respectively, in 1906 and 1907. Yale finished with 9–0–1 records both years, and he was named an All-American both seasons. As head coach, Jones led Yale football to a 5–3–1 record versus Harvard, and gave the most revered pregame pep talk in Yale athletic history before the Harvard–Yale game in 1923. Before that contest Jones intoned famously, "Gentlemen, you are about to play football against Harvard. Never again may you do something so important."[2] Yale won 13-0, with Babe Ruth providing broadcast commentary. Ducky Pond returned a Harvard fumble sixty-three yards for a touchdown. Bill Mallory kicked the extra point and two field goals.[3] The Yale team was 8-0 for the season.[4]

Family and honors

Jones's older brother was Howard Jones, who also played at Yale from 1905 to 1907. The elder Jones also coached at Yale and Syracuse, as well as Ohio State University, the University of Iowa, Duke University, and the University of Southern California.

The "T.A.D. Jones" room at the gymnasium of Phillips Exeter Academy, where he taught, is named for Jones.[5]

Thomas Albert Dwight "Tad" Jones is entombed in a private crypt in Woodside Cemetery & Arboretum in Middletown, OH

Head coaching record

College
Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Syracuse Orangemen (Independent) (1909–1910)
1909 Syracuse 4–5–1
1910 Syracuse 5–4–1
Syracuse: 9–9–2
Yale Bulldogs (Independent) (1916–1917)
1916 Yale 8–1
1917 Yale 3–0[n 1]
Yale Bulldogs (Independent) (1920–1927)
1920 Yale 5–3
1921 Yale 8–1
1922 Yale 6–3–1
1923 Yale 8–0
1924 Yale 6–0–2
1925 Yale 5–2–1
1926 Yale 4–4
1927 Yale 7–1
Yale: 60–15–4[n 1]
Total:69–24–6[n 1]

Notes
  1. Though official Yale records credit the 1917 season to Jones, Thomas G. Bergin explains in his book, The Game: The Harvard-Yale Football Rivalry, 1875-1983, that the 1917 season was informal, with the team led by Arthur Brides and trainer Johnny Mack. The 1917 team had a 3–0 record.[1]

References
  1. Bergin, Thomas Goddard (1984). The Game: The Harvard-Yale Football Rivalry, 1875-1983. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-03267-6.
  2. Wallace, William N. (November 18, 1989). "Ivy Title And Pride On Line in The Game". The New York Times. Retrieved July 30, 2010.
  3. The Game, p. 145.
  4. The Game, p. 141
  5. The Yale Alumni Weekly. 1913.
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