W. A. Cunningham
William A. "Bill" Cunningham (born July 9, 1886, date of death unknown) was the head football coach of the University of Georgia Bulldogs football team for ten years from 1910 to 1919. Cunningham was the 14th head coach at Georgia and brought both continuity and success to the team. In the 18 years of the football program at Georgia prior to his arrival, the team had 13 different head coaches with no head coach serving for more than three years. Cunningham was a graduate of Vanderbilt and gained football experience under longtime Vanderbilt head coach Dan McGugin.
Cunningham came to the attention of Dean Sanford (who was the athletic director at Georgia) when the baseball team he was coaching, Gordon Military Institute, was playing at the University. Dean Sanford had a conversation with Cunnigham and presented him with a $1,350 contract on the spot.
During his ten-year tenure as head football coach, the Georgia Bulldogs only played eight seasons, disbanding the team in 1917 and 1918 as a result of World War I, but his teams produced seven winning seasons (2 more than in the entire first 18 years combined). Cunningham compiled a 43-18-9 coaching record. He also coached Georgia's first All-American, Bob McWhorter, and George "Kid" Woodruff, who ultimately assumed the head coaching duty in 1923.
During the hiatus in Georgia football in 1917 and 1918, Cunnigham joined the Army. He returned to coaching in 1919 for one year, then re-enlisted in the United States Army. Cunningham reached the rank of General in the Army.
Related page
External links
- Georgia "Football through the years"
- Georgia Head Coaches
- Reed, Thomas Walter (1949). Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press. History of the University of Georgia; Chapter XVII: Athletics at the University from the Beginning Through 1947 imprint pages 3500-3531