Glenn "Pop" Warner

Glenn S. Warner was born April 5, 1871 in Springville, New York. He attended Cornell University, where he graduated in 1894 with a law degree. At Cornell, Warner also played football. As captain of the football team, he got the nickname "Pop" because was older than most of his teammates.

In 1895, the University of Georgia hired Warner (photo) as its new football coach at a salary of $340 for ten weeks. He arrived in Athens on September 15, 1895, homesick and discouraged after seeing the sports facilities and staff at his disposal. At the time, the University of Georgia had no athletic facilities, playing field, or stands. In fact, the only place for playing football or any other sport was a bare field behind New College where rocks stuck out of the red clay. In 1895, the University of Georgia's entire student body consisted of just 248 students, and only 13 of those showed up to play football. As a result,Warner's first team--the 1895 squad--had 3 wins against 4 loses. Warner was rehired for the 1896 season at a salary of $40 per week. The 1896 squad--Warner's last Georgia team----went 4-0, giving the University of Georgia its first undefeated season.

After Georgia, Warner returned to Cornell to coach football for two seasons. He then coached at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania for five years, returned to Cornell for three seasons, and returned again to Carlisle in 1907--the same year as Jim Thorpe arrived. Warner went to the University of Pittsburgh in 1914, coaching his teams to 33 straight victories and two national championships. Next, Warner coached at Stanford, where his teams won three Rose Bowl championships. In 1933, he took his final coaching job at Temple University with only one losing season before retiring in 1938.

During his four decades as a coach, Warner brought many innovations to college football, including the spiral punt, the screen play, single- and double-wing formations, the naked reverse, the three-point stance, numbering players' jerseys, and the use of shoulder and thigh pads. But to many Americans, Warner is best remembered for starting the Pop Warner Youth Football League in 1929. On September 7, 1954, Pop Warner died in Palo Alto, California.

On July 25, 1997, the U.S. Postal Service honored four legendary football coaches--Pop Warner, Bear Bryant, Vince Lombardi, and George Halas--with a 32-cent commemorative stamp for each. First day of issue ceremonies were held at the Professional Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Each stamp was subsequently issued with a red bar above the coach's name in the state most associated with that stamp. On August 8, 1997, the second version of the Pop Warner stamp (with the red bar) was issued in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania--the state where he spent most of his years coaching. Still, some sports enthusiasts felt that Georgia--which gave Warner his first coaching job--would have been a worthy site for the stamp.

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