George Sauer
{{Short description|American football player, coach (1910–1994)}}
{{for|his son, the American football wide receiver|George Sauer Jr.}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox college coach
| name = George Sauer
| image = George Henry Sauer.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Sauer from 1934 Cornhusker
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1910|12|11}}
| birth_place = Stratton, Nebraska, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1994|2|5|1910|12|11}}
| death_place = Waco, Texas, U.S.
| alma_mater = University of Nebraska
| player_years1 = 1931–1933
| player_team1 = Nebraska
| player_years2 = 1935–1937
| player_team2 = Green Bay Packers
| player_years3 = 1942
| player_team3 = Pensacola NAS
| player_positions = Halfback
| coach_sport1 = Football
| coach_years2 = 1937–1941
| coach_team2 = New Hampshire
| coach_years3 = 1946–1947
| coach_team3 = Kansas
| coach_years4 = 1948–1949
| coach_team4 = Navy
| coach_years5 = 1950–1955
| coach_team5 = Baylor
| coach_sport6 = Basketball
| coach_years7 = 1938–1939
| coach_team7 = New Hampshire
| admin_years1 = 1950–1958
| admin_team1 = Baylor
| admin_years2 = 1961
| admin_team2 = New York Titans (GM)
| admin_years3 = 1962–1969
| admin_team3 = {{nowrap|New York Titans/Jets (dir. pro pers.)}}
| admin_years4 = 1969–1970
| admin_team4 = Boston Patriots (GM)
| overall_record = 78–55–9 (football)
3–14 (basketball)
| bowl_record = 0–3
| tournament_record =
| championships = 2 New England Conference (1937, 1940)
2 Big Six (1946–1947)
AFL champion (1968)
Super Bowl champion (III)
NFL champion (1936)
| awards =
| statlabel1 = Games played
| statvalue1 = 20
| statlabel2 = starts
| statvalue2 = 10
| coaching_records =
| CFBHOF_year = 1954
| CFBHOF_id = 1565
}}
George Henry Sauer Sr. (December 11, 1910 – February 5, 1994) was an American football player, coach, college sports administrator, and professional football executive.
Career
Sauer attended the University of Nebraska where he was an All-American halfback under Dana X. Bible from 1931-1933. After college, he played for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1935 to 1937, helping them win the 1936 NFL championship as their starting left halfback. Sauer left professional football in 1937 and coached at the University of New Hampshire from 1937 to 1941, compiling a record of 22-18-1.{{cite web |title=George Sauer Sr. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/440604378/?terms=%22George%2BSauer%22%2B%22navy%22 |website=The Boston Globe |access-date=26 April 2020}} He left his coaching position and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942 and was commissioned as an officer after completing the requisite training.{{cite news |title=George Sauer enlist in U.S. Navy |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39833782/george-sauer-enlists-in-u-s-navy/ |newspaper=Lincoln Journal Star |date=17 April 1942 |page=1 |access-date=26 April 2020}} After he completed his military service, he coached for two years at University of Kansas, he compiled a 15–3–2 (.786) record, winning the conference title in each season.{{cite web |title=GEORGE SAUER |url=https://footballfoundation.org/hof_search.aspx?hof=1565 |website=National Football Foundation Hall of Fame |access-date=26 April 2020}} After he left Kansas, Sauer coached at the United States Naval Academy (1948–1949), and Baylor University (1950–1955), compiling a career college football record of 78–55–9 and earning trips to both the Orange Bowl and the Gator Bowl.{{cite book |last1=Mosher |first1=Curt |title=The Best of the Big Red Running Backs |date=September 1998 |publisher=Sports Publishing |location=Champaign, IL |isbn=1-58261-001-0 |pages=146–150 }} Sauer remained at Baylor as Athletic Director until 1960 when he became the first General Manager of the New York Titans of the American Football League. The Titans later reorganized and in 1963 were renamed in as the New York Jets. As director of player personnel, Sauer drafted and signed his own son, George Sauer Jr. as a wide receiver.{{cite web |title=George Sauer |url=https://cvgs.cu-portland.edu/who-are-volga-germans/culture/biographies/sauer-sr-george |website=Concordia University - The Center for Volga German Studies }}{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Sauer remained with the Jets until 1969 when he was named general manager of the Boston Patriots.{{cite news |title=Ex Navy Football Coach Sauer is Dead at 81 |agency=The Baltimore Sun |date=February 9, 1994}}
Sauer appeared as an imposter on the February 26, 1962 episode of the game show To Tell The Truth.{{cite web |title=To Tell The Truth |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVwf9t32dTQ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/QVwf9t32dTQ |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|website=CBS |access-date=26 April 2020}}{{cbignore}}
Death and legacy
Sauer died in 1994 after a 10 year battle with Alzheimer's disease. At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife Lillian, son George Sauer Jr., and daughter, Dana.{{cite news |title=Sauer, former Baylor coach, dies after illness |agency=Austin American Statesman (Austin, TX) |date=February 8, 1994}}
Sauer was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1954 and in 1998 was inducted into the University of New Hampshire Wildcats' Hall of Fame.{{cite web |url=https://unhwildcats.com/sports/2015/7/23/Development_0723150850.aspx |title=UNH Wildcats - Hall of Fame |website=unhwildcats.com |access-date=December 15, 2019}}
Head coaching record
=Football=
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = both }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = New Hampshire Wildcats
| conf = New England Conference
| startyear = 1937
| endyear = 1941
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = conference
| year = 1937
| name = New Hampshire
| overall = 7–1
| conference = 1–0
| confstanding = T–1st
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1938
| name = New Hampshire
| overall = 3–6
| conference = 1–1
| confstanding = 3rd
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1939
| name = New Hampshire
| overall = 3–5
| conference = 1–1
| confstanding = T–2nd
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = conference
| year = 1940
| name = New Hampshire
| overall = 5–3
| conference = 2–0
| confstanding = 1st
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1941
| name = New Hampshire
| overall = 4–3–1
| conference = 0–0–1
| confstanding = 3rd
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = New Hampshire
| overall = 22–18–1
| confrecord = 5–2–1
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = Kansas Jayhawks
| conf = Big Six Conference
| startyear = 1946
| endyear = 1947
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = conference
| year = 1946
| name = Kansas
| overall = 7–2–1
| conference = 4–1
| confstanding = T–1st
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = conference
| year = 1947
| name = Kansas
| overall = 8–1–2
| conference = 4–0–1
| confstanding = T–1st
| bowlname = Orange
| bowloutcome = L
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 = 12
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Kansas
| overall = 15–3–3
| confrecord = 8–1–1
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = Navy Midshipmen
| conf = Independent
| startyear = 1948
| endyear = 1949
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1948
| name = Navy
| overall = 0–8–1
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1949
| name = Navy
| overall = 3–5–1
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Navy
| overall = 3–13–2
| confrecord =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = Baylor Bears
| conf = Southwest Conference
| startyear = 1950
| endyear = 1955
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1950
| name = Baylor
| overall = 7–3
| conference = 4–2
| confstanding = 2nd
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = 15
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1951
| name = Baylor
| overall = 8–2–1
| conference = 4–1–1
| confstanding = 2nd
| bowlname = Orange
| bowloutcome = L
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = 9
| ranking2 = 9
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1952
| name = Baylor
| overall = 4–4–2
| conference = 1–3–2
| confstanding = 5th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1953
| name = Baylor
| overall = 7–3
| conference = 4–2
| confstanding = 3rd
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1954
| name = Baylor
| overall = 7–4
| conference = 4–2
| confstanding = T–3rd
| bowlname = Gator
| bowloutcome = L
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 = 18
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1955
| name = Baylor
| overall = 5–5
| conference = 2–4
| confstanding = T–5th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Baylor
| overall = 38–21–3
| confrecord = 19–14–3
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
| overall = 78–55–9
| bowls = no
| poll = no
| polltype =
}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{College Football HoF|1565}}
- {{Footballstats |nfl=george-sauer-2 |espn= |cbs= |yahoo= |si= |pfr=S/SaueGe20 |rotoworld= }}
{{Navboxes
|list =
{{New Hampshire Wildcats football coach navbox}}
{{New Hampshire Wildcats men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{Kansas Jayhawks football coach navbox}}
{{Navy Midshipmen football coach navbox}}
{{Baylor Bears and Lady Bears athletic director navbox}}
{{Baylor Bears football coach navbox}}
{{New England Patriots general manager navbox}}
{{1936 Green Bay Packers}}
{{1933 NCAA Division I FBS College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sauer, George}}
Category:All-American college football players
Category:American football halfbacks
Category:Baylor Bears athletic directors
Category:Baylor Bears football coaches
Category:Green Bay Packers players
Category:Kansas Jayhawks football coaches
Category:Navy Midshipmen football coaches
Category:Nebraska Cornhuskers football players
Category:New England Patriots executives
Category:New Hampshire Wildcats football coaches
Category:New Hampshire Wildcats men's basketball coaches
Category:New York Jets executives
Category:Pensacola Naval Air Station Goslings football players
Category:College men's basketball head coaches in the United States
Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Category:United States Navy officers
Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II
Category:People from Hitchcock County, Nebraska
Category:Coaches of American football from Nebraska
Category:Players of American football from Nebraska
Category:Basketball coaches from Nebraska