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W. H. Lillard

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W. H. Lillard
Lillard as Dartmouth coach in 1909
Biographical details
Born(1881-11-20)November 20, 1881
Paris, Illinois
DiedJune 30, 1967(1967-06-30) (aged 85)
Boston, Massachusetts
Playing career
1903–1904Dartmouth
Position(s)Left end
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1905–1906Dartmouth (assistant)
1907–1908Andover
1909Dartmouth
1910–1915Andover
Head coaching record
Overall5–1–2 (college)

Walter Huston "Cappy" Lillard (November 20, 1881 – June 30, 1967) was an American football coach and educator. He coached the Dartmouth College football team for one season in 1909 and amassed a 5–1–2 record. Lillard taught English and coached football at Phillips Academy, Andover, and later became the headmaster of the Tabor Academy.

Early life

Lillard was born on November 20, 1881 in Paris, Illinois.[1] He attended Dartmouth College and graduated in 1905.[2] Lillard played on the football team as a left end and earned varsity letters in 1903 and 1904.[2][3] The Dartmouth wrote that "Lillard, though an exceedingly light man for college football, was enabled to hold an end position on several of the strongest teams ever representing the Green."[4] Lillard was a player on the 1903 team, which was the first in school history to defeat Harvard.[5] He graduated from Dartmouth in 1905.[6]

Professional career

Andover

Upon graduation, Lillard served as an assistant coach at Dartmouth in 1905 and 1906.[6] In 1907, the preparatory school Phillips Academy, Andover hired Lillard as an English instructor and head football coach, which made him the first faculty member to serve as a head coach, ending the school practice of hiring professionals.[7] His appointment was praised by the Andover faculty which blamed the professional coaches for "illegal recruiting, and the commercialism which had crept into college athletics, particularly football."[7] He coached Andover again the following year, before his team's success on the gridiron attracted the attention of his alma mater.[8]

Dartmouth coach

In December 1908, the Dartmouth athletic council selected the football staff which consisted of four graduates: W. J. Randall (1896), Leigh Turner (1901), and Joseph T. Gilman (1905), and Lillard, who was chosen as the head coach.[9] He also took direct responsibility for the ends.[6] Lillard took a leave of absence from Andover to attend graduate school at Oxford University in England[7] and then to coach at Dartmouth during the 1909 football season.[6] During his tenure, the Green compiled a 5–1–2 record.[10]

Return to Andover

Lillard received his A.M. from Dartmouth in 1910.[1] That year, he returned to coach and teach at Andover,[11] where he remained at least through 1915.[12] In 1911, he helped implement a new school policy which required every student to participate in some form of athletics, including intramural competition.[12] Lillard told a New York Times reporter:

"We had genuine satisfaction at Andover in seeing the bleachers empty and the fields covered with boys having a mighty good time. The new plan as compared with the old gave each individual four times as much actual playing in games, but of course not the same kind of experience that comes with meeting an unknown opponent."[12]

Lillard went on to praise the widespread participation in sports at English universities, and said virtually all of their students competed in rugby, soccer, lacrosse, or rowing. Lillard contrasted this situation with the one at American universities, where, he noted, "about 100 picked men play ... surrounded by a large body of 2,000 rooters. To make the situation worse, these American athletes are playing in a spotlight of publicity, especially the demigods of the 'Varsity."[12]

Tabor Academy headmaster

In 1916, Lillard was hired as the principal of Tabor Academy in Marion, Massachusetts.[13][14] During his tenure, Tabor Academy's enrollment increased tenfold.[13] Lillard resigned from the post in 1942.[15]

In 1963, Lillard published a book, Courage on the Danube, which documented the Warsaw Uprising.[16] He died of a heart ailment on June 30, 1967 in the New England Medical Center in Boston at the age of 85.[17]

Head coaching record

College

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Dartmouth (Independent) (1909)
1909 Dartmouth 5–1–2
Dartmouth: 5–1–2
Total: 5–1–2

References

  1. ^ a b David Hicks Lillard, Lillard: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Volume 2, p. 1058, Southern Historical Press, 1991, ISBN 0-89308-468-9.
  2. ^ a b "Wearers of the 'D'", 2008 Dartmouth Football Media Guide, p. 137, Dartmouth College, 2008.
  3. ^ PRINCETON, 17; DARTMOUTH, 0., The New York Times, October 25, 1903.
  4. ^ The Dartmouth, Volume XXX, p. 326.
  5. ^ HARVARD DEFEATED, 11–0; CRIMSON TEAM HUMILIATED BY DARTMOUTH ELEVEN; Result a Tremendous Surprise to Cambridge Rooters, Who Anticipated a Victory by Small Score--Hanover Men Outweigh and Outplay the Aggregation Which Will Meet Yale Next Saturday--Contest Won Almost Wholly by Line Plunging. Harvard Is Simply Crushed. First Touchdown by Turner. Censure for Crimson Coaches, The Chicago Tribune, November 15, 1903.
  6. ^ a b c d The Dartmouth, Volume XXX, p. 322, December 22, 1908.
  7. ^ a b c Axel Bundgaard, Muscle and Manliness: The Rise of Sport in American Boarding Schools, pp. 180–182, Syracuse University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-8156-3082-4.
  8. ^ SCHILDMILLER FOR ANDOVER., The Christian Science Monitor, December 30, 1908.
  9. ^ COUNCIL OF FOUR FOR DARTMOUTH COLLEGE ELEVEN; Football Coaching System at Hanover University to Consist of Staff of Old Varsity Players; LILLARD IN CHARGE, The Christian Science Monitor, p. 3, December 29, 2008.
  10. ^ All-Time Coaching Records by Year, College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved July 2, 2010.
  11. ^ ANDOVER VERSUS EXETER; Their Annual Game Comes Week from Tomorrow; Exeter Has a Much Better Season's Record, Boston Evening Transcript, October 31, 1913.
  12. ^ a b c d ANDOVER APPROVES INTRA-MURAL SPORT; Every Student Taking Part in Some Branch of Athletics, Says W. Huston Lillard, The New York Times, December 25, 1915.
  13. ^ a b Our History, Tabor Academy, retrieved July 2, 2010.
  14. ^ Harvard Alumni Bulletin, Volume 20, p. 800, Harvard Alumni Association, 1917.
  15. ^ Tabor Academy Appoints Wickenden Headmaster, The Hartford Courant, p. 20, May 27, 1942.
  16. ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries, Third Series: 1964: July–December, p. 1767, Copyright Office, Library of Congress, 1964.
  17. ^ WALTER LILLARD, EDUCATOR, WAS 85; Former Tabor Headmaster and U.S. Aide Is Dead, The New York Times, July 3, 1967.
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