Herb McCracken

American football player and coach (1899–1995)

Herb McCracken

Biographical details
Born| (1899-06-20)June 20, 1899
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died| March 11, 1995(1995-03-11) (aged 95)
Ocean Ridge, Florida, U.S.
Playing career
1918–1920| Pittsburgh
Position(s)| Halfback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1921–1923| Allegheny
1924–1935| Lafayette
Head coaching record
Overall| 75–48–7
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
As coach:

* National (1926)
* 3 Middle Three Conference (1929–1931)

As player:

* National (1918)

Awards
Amos Alonzo Stagg Award (1988)
College Football Hall of Fame
Inducted in 1973 (profile)

George Herbert McCracken (June 20, 1899 – March 11, 1995) was an American football player and coach. McCracken played football as a running back at the University of Pittsburgh from 1918 to 1920 under coach "Pop" Warner and was a member of Pittsburgh's 1918 national championship team.

He served as the head coach at Allegheny College from 1921 to 1923 and at Lafayette College from 1924 to 1935, compiling a career college football record of 75–48–7. His 1926 Lafayette Leopards team was recognized as a national champion by Parke H. Davis. That same year his former coach's Pop Warner's Stanford Indians were recognized as the national champions by a different publication.[1]

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1973. Some, including Pop Warner, consider him to be the first to regularly implement the offensive team huddle, beginning its use in Lafayette in 1924 to hide his instructions from the opposing team.[2]

During his coaching days, McCracken was the cofounder of the very successful Scholastic Inc publishing concern, which he was associated with for 63 years. He was also a brother of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity while he was a student at the University of Pittsburgh.

## Head coaching record

[edit]

Year  | Team  | Overall  | Conference | Standing  | Bowl/playoffs

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|
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Allegheny Gators (Independent) (1921–1923)
1921 | Allegheny  | 3–4–1 |  |  |
1922 | Allegheny  | 6–3 |  |  |
1923 | Allegheny  | 7–1 |  |  |
Allegheny: | 16–8–1 |  |
Lafayette Leopards (Independent) (1924–1928)
1924 | Lafayette | 7–2 |  |  |
1925 | Lafayette | 7–1–1 |  |  |
1926 | Lafayette | 9–0 |  |  |
1927 | Lafayette | 5–3–1 |  |  |
1928 | Lafayette | 6–1–2 |  |  |
Lafayette Leopards (Middle Three Conference) (1929–1935)
1929 | Lafayette | 3–5 | 1–1 | T–1st |
1930 | Lafayette | 5–3–1 | 2–0 | 1st |
1931 | Lafayette | 7–2 | 2–0 | 1st |
1932 | Lafayette | 3–5 | 1–1 | 2nd |
1933 | Lafayette | 3–5–1 | 1–1 | 2nd |
1934 | Lafayette | 2–6 | 0–2 | 3rd |
1935 | Lafayette | 2–7 | 0–2 | 3rd |
Lafayette: | 59–40–6 | 7–7 |
Total: | 75–48–7 |
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth

## References

[edit]

1. ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2015). "National Poll Rankings" (PDF). NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA. p. 108. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
2. ^ "Obituary Herb McCracken" (PDF). LA84 Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 11, 2016.

## External links

[edit]

* Herb McCracken at the College Football Hall of Fame

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Allegheny Gators head football coaches

* No coach (1893–1894)
* No team (1895)
* No coach (1896)
* Charles N. Crosby (1897)
* William Martin Smallwood (1898)
* Alonzo G. Brown (1899)
* Fred E. Heckel (1900)
* Edward N. Eisenberg (1901)
* V. P. Whelan (1902)
* Walter E. Bachman (1903)
* Branch Rickey (1904–1905)
* Charles B. Lewis (1906)
* Herbert Scheetz (1907–1908)
* E. J. Stewart (1909–1911)
* David L. Dunlap (1912)
* Charles Hammett (1913–1917)
* Carl A. Gilbert (1918)
* Charles Hammett (1919)
* Clarence Applegran (1920)
* Herb McCracken (1921–1923)
* Tom Davies (1924–1925)
* Mel Merritt (1926–1928)
* Harry W. Crum (1929–1931)
* Waldo S. Tippin (1932–1934)
* Karl J. Lawrence (1935–1940)
* Alfred C. Werner (1941–1942)
* No team (1943–1945)
* Bob Garbark (1946)
* Bill Daddio (1947–1951)
* David C. Henderson (1952–1953)
* William R. Moore (1954–1957)
* John R. Chuckran (1958–1969)
* Sam T. Timer (1970–1983)
* Bob Wolfe (1984–1985)
* Peter Vaas (1986–1989)
* Ken O'Keefe (1990–1997)
* Blair Hrovat (1998–2001)
* Mark Matlak (2002–2015)
* B. J. Hammer (2016–2018)
* Rich Nagy (2019)
* No team (2020)
* Rich Nagy (2021–2022)
* Braden Layer (2023– )

* v
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Lafayette Leopards head football coaches

* No coach (1882–1890)
* Wallace Moyle (1891–1892)
* Pearl T. Haskell & H. H. Vincent (1893)
* Hugh Janeway & H. H. Vincent (1894)
* Parke H. Davis (1895–1897)
* Samuel B. Newton (1898–1901)
* Dave Fultz (1902)
* Alfred E. Bull (1903–1907)
* George Barclay (1908)
* Bob Folwell (1909–1911)
* Samuel B. Newton (1911)
* George McCaa (1912–1913)
* Wilmer G. Crowell (1914–1916)
* Punk Berryman (1917)
* Lewis A. Cobbett (1918)
* Jock Sutherland (1919–1923)
* Herb McCracken (1924–1935)
* Ernie Nevers (1936)
* Edward Mylin (1937–1942)
* Ben Wolfson (1943–1945)
* Edward Mylin (1946)
* Ivy Williamson (1947–1948)
* Maurice J. "Clipper" Smith (1949–1951)
* Steve Hokuf (1952–1957)
* James McConlogue (1958–1962)
* Kenneth Bunn (1963–1966)
* Harry Gamble (1967–1970)
* Neil Putnam (1971–1980)
* Bill Russo (1981–1999)
* Frank Tavani (2000–2016)
* John Garrett (2017–2021)
* John Troxell (2022– )

# denotes interim head coach

Herb McCracken—championships, awards, and honors

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1918 Pittsburgh Panthers football—national champions

* Tom Davies
* Jimmy DeHart
* Katy Easterday
* Skip Gougler
* Leonard Hilty
* John Loughran
* Herb McCracken
* George McLaren
* Jake Stahl
* Herb Stein

* Head coach: Pop Warner

* v
* t
* e

1926 Lafayette Leopards football—national champions

* Frank Grube
* Frank Kirkleski
* George Wilson

Head coach
Herb McCracken

* v
* t
* e

Amos Alonzo Stagg Award winners

* 1940: Herring Jr.
* 1941: Cowell
* 1942–1945 No award given
* 1946: Rice
* 1947: Alexander
* 1948: Dobie, Warner & Zuppke
* 1949: Harlow
* 1950 No award given
* 1951: McLaughry
* 1952: McMillin
* 1953: Little
* 1954: Bible
* 1955: Tomlin
* 1956 No award given
* 1957: Neyland
* 1958: Bierman
* 1959: Wilce
* 1960: Harman
* 1961: Eliot
* 1962: Wieman
* 1963: Kerr
* 1964: Faurot
* 1965: Stuhldreher
* 1966: Moore
* 1967: Neely
* 1968: Martin
* 1969: Engle
* 1970: Waldorf
* 1971: Murray
* 1972: Curtice
* 1973: Jordan
* 1974: Gaither
* 1975: Zornow
* 1976 No award given
* 1977: Schwartzwalder
* 1978: Hamilton
* 1979: Crisler
* 1980 No award given
* 1981: Russell
* 1982: Robinson
* 1983: Bryant
* 1984: Wilkinson
* 1985: Daugherty
* 1986: Hayes
* 1987: Scovell
* 1988: McCracken
* 1989: Nelson
* 1990: Casanova
* 1991: Blackman
* 1992: McClendon
* 1993: Jackson
* 1994: Devaney
* 1995: Merritt
* 1996: Neinas
* 1997: Parseghian
* 1998: Reade
* 1999: Schembechler
* 2000: Osborne
* 2001: Dooley
* 2002: Paterno
* 2003: Edwards
* 2004: Schipper
* 2005: Fry
* 2006: Teaff
* 2007: Curry
* 2008: Walsh
* 2009: Gagliardi
* 2010: Royal
* 2011: Bowden
* 2012: DeBerry
* 2013: Westering
* 2014: Slocum
* 2015: Hatfield
* 2016: Cooper
* 2017: Nehlen
* 2018: Broyles
* 2019: Levy
* 2020: Tomey
* 2021: No award given
* 2022: Tjeerdsma
* 2023: Kidd
* 2024: Kehres

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