Sport: The Coach

When Amos Alonzo Stagg first started to coach football at the University of Chicago, not one of the school's buildings had been finished. Jim Corbett had just won the heavyweight championship from John L. Sullivan; Knute Rockne was a four-year-old youngster in Norway; and it was eight years before the founding of baseball's American League. At Chicago only 13 men turned up for football practice, so Coach Stagg, a Walter Camp All-America end at Yale (class of '88), joined the fun and played on the team himself.

In his 41 years as Chicago's football coach, "Old Man Stagg," as he...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!