Cap Edwards

{{Short description|American football player and coach (1888–1944)}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Cap Edwards

| image =

| number = 7, 12, 22

| position = Guard

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1888|9|5}}

| birth_place = St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1944|11|23|1888|9|5}}

| death_place = South Bend, Indiana, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 0

| weight_lbs = 207

| high_school = South Bend (IN) Central

| college = Notre Dame

| pastteams =

Canton Bulldogs ({{NFL Year|1920}}–{{NFL Year|1921}})
Toledo Maroons ({{NFL Year|1922}})
Cleveland Indians ({{NFL Year|1923}})
Cleveland Bulldogs ({{NFL Year|1924}})

| pastcoaching =

Canton Bulldogs ({{NFL Year|1921}})
Cleveland Indians ({{NFL Year|1923}})
Cleveland Bulldogs ({{NFL Year|1925}})

| highlights =

NFL champion ({{NFL Year|1924}})

| pfr = E/EdwaCa20

| pfrcoach = EdwaCa0

}}

William Howard "Cap" Edwards (September 5, 1888 – November 23, 1944) was a National Football League (NFL) coach and player in American football's earliest years. In the early 20th century, football in America was just beginning to catch on, with professional teams popping up in numerous cities, and at the time college football was more popular.{{Cite web |url=http://www.profootballarchives.com/edwa02900.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-04-14 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091559/http://www.profootballarchives.com/edwa02900.html |url-status=dead }}

Edwards attended and graduated from the University of Notre Dame, where he played football as an guard. His professional coaching career was short-lived, but nonetheless noteworthy as he coached in the pioneering days of football with such greats as Jim Thorpe and Guy Chamberlin. He first coached the Canton Bulldogs in 1921, which ended in a 5–2–3 record. In 1923 Edwards coached the Cleveland Indians, with a 3–1–3 record, followed by a 5–8–1 record as coach of the Cleveland Bulldogs.

Edwards also served as the head football coach at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, West Virginia from 1910 to 1911.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gw3_obTNh4QC|title=NFL Head Coaches: A Biographical Dictionary, 1920–2011|first=John|last=Maxymuk|publisher=McFarland|date=July 30, 2012|isbn=9780786465576|access-date=March 2, 2019}}