Alexander S. Lilley

{{Short description|American football player and coach (1867–1925)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Alexander S. Lilley

| image = Alexander S Lilley.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Lilley pictured in 1890

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1867|12|7}}

| birth_place = Columbus, Ohio, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1925|12|8|1867|12|7}}

| death_place = San Francisco, California, U.S.

| alma_mater =

| player_years1 = {{circa|1890}}?

| player_team1 = Princeton

| coach_years1 = 1890–1891

| coach_team1 = Ohio State

| coach_years2 = 1892

| coach_team2 = Ohio Wesleyan

| overall_record = 4–8

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships =

| awards =

| coaching_records =

}}

Alexander Spinning Lilley (December 7, 1867 – December 8, 1925) was an American college football coach. He served as the first head football coach at Ohio State University. Lilley was an unpaid volunteer coach during his time coaching at Ohio State. He was also known to ride an Indian pony to practices during his tenure.{{Cite web|url=http://www.osu.edu/features/2012/scarlet-and-gray-legacy.html|title=Scarlet and Gray Legacy|date=26 August 2012}} A plaque at the Ohio State football stadium memorializes him as "A Lone and Ardent Volunteer".{{Cite web|url=http://library.osu.edu/blogs/archives/2011/07/25/osu-football-who-was-the-youngest-coach/|title = OSU Football: Who was the youngest coach?|date = 25 July 2011}}

Official records state that Lilley coached the Ohio State team from 1890 to 1891, purportedly compiling a record of 3–5.{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalchamps.net/NCAA/database/ohiostate_database.htm |title=Ohio State History Database|access-date=September 22, 2008 |publisher=nationalchamps.net | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081006153940/http://www.nationalchamps.net/NCAA/database/ohiostate_database.htm| archive-date= October 6, 2008 | url-status= live}} More recent research establishes that Lilley began coaching in the fall of 1890 and did not coach the first Ohio State game (vs. Ohio Wesleyan) in May 1890.{{cite book |last=Roman |first=Robert J. |date=2017 |title=Ohio State Football: The Forgotten Dawn |publisher=University of Akron Press |isbn=978-1629220666 }}

Lilley died after a five-month illness in 1925. At the time of his death he was a manager for a shipbuilding company in New York.

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=cecilie3&id=I6984 {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=June 2022}}{{cite news |author= |title=Famed Athlete Dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8029676/the_times/ |newspaper=San Mateo Times |location=San Mateo, California |agency=United Press |date=December 9, 1925 |page=1 |access-date=December 27, 2016 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}