J. W. Knibbs

{{Short description|American football player and coach (1880–1953)}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = J. W. Knibbs

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1880|11|8}}

| birth_place = Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1953|7|5|1880|11|8}}

| death_place = Mount Vernon, New York, U.S.

| alma_mater =

| player_years1 = 1901–1904

| player_team1 = Dartmouth

| player_postions =

| coach_years1 = 1905

| coach_team1 = California

| overall_record = 4–1–2

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships =

| awards =

| coaching_records =

}}

John William Knibbs Jr.{{cite news |title=Gridiron Gossip College Football |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IABgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jgINAAAAIBAJ&pg=3543,4277910 |newspaper=The Meriden Daily Journal |date=November 11, 1905 |accessdate=October 26, 2011}} (November 8, 1880 – July 5, 1953) was an American football player and coach.

Knibbs was born in Massachusetts on November 8, 1880.{{cite book |title=General Catalogue of Dartmouth College and the Associated Schools 1769-1910 |last=Emerson |first=Charles Franklin |year=1911 |publisher=Rumford Press |location=Concord, New Hampshire |page=426 |url=https://archive.org/stream/generalcatalogue00dart#page/426/mode/2up |accessdate=October 26, 2011}} He attended Dartmouth College from which he graduated in 1905. He played on the Dartmouth football team from 1901 to 1904, and was the team captain in his senior year.{{cite web |url=http://www.dartmouthsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=48870&SPID=4719&DB_OEM_ID=11600&ATCLID=204965944&ATCLPID=4#K |title=Football Letterwinners |date=July 6, 2010 |work=DartmouthSports.com—Official Web Site of Dartmouth Varsity Athletics |publisher=Dartmouth College |accessdate=October 26, 2011 |archive-date=January 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119095926/http://www.dartmouthsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=48870&SPID=4719&DB_OEM_ID=11600&ATCLID=204965944&ATCLPID=4#K |url-status=dead }}

After graduating from Dartmouth, he was hired to serve as the head football coach at the University of California, Berkeley for the 1905 college football season. He led the team to a record of 4–1–2 in his only year as the coach. An account written by a student described Knibbs' coaching style as follows:

"All hopes and fears of our University are now bound up in the coming Stanford-California football game. We are lying very low and keeping very quiet, as the policy of our Eastern coach, Knibbs, of Dartmouth, is most conservative. Most of the practising is secret, and the field is closed to all save the squad except two afternoons of each week. The work his [sic] year has been tackled in a serious, dogged style by all those out; this alone has won much respect for our new coach."{{cite book|title=The Rainbow of the Delta Tau Delta, Volume 29|publisher=Delta Tau Delta Fraternity|page=[https://archive.org/details/rainbowdeltatau05fratgoog/page/n131 101]|year=1906|url=https://archive.org/details/rainbowdeltatau05fratgoog}}

After retiring from football, Knibbs had a lengthy career with the Otis Elevator Company. In 1909, he was employed by Otis at St. Louis, Missouri.{{cite book|title=Catalogue of the Alpha Delta Phi|year=1909|publisher=Alpha Delta Phi|page=196|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PIFHAAAAYAAJ}} At the time of the 1910 United States Census, he was living in Denver, Colorado, with his wife, Marion (age 29), and their daughter, Olive (age 1-8/12). He was employed as a manager for an elevator manufacturing company.Census entry for John W. Knibbs, age 29, born in Massachusetts. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Census Place: Denver Ward 10, Denver, Colorado; Roll: T624_116; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0127; Image: 667; FHL Number: 1374129. In 1915, he was employed as an Otis salesman in San Francisco.{{cite book|title=Transactions of the Commonwealth Club of California, Volume 9|year=1915|publisher=Commonwealth Club of California|page=766|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=guMpAAAAYAAJ}} In 1918, he was a western selling agent for Otis Elevator Company.{{cite book|title=Memorial encyclopedia of the State of Massachusetts, Volume 2|author=William Richard Cutter|year=1918|page=404|publisher=The Amer. Historical Soc., Inc.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VQc9AAAAYAAJ}} In a draft registration card completed in September 1918, Knibbs indicated he was living in Winchester, Massachusetts, and working as an elevator salesman for the Otis Elevator Co. in Boston.Draft registration card for John William Knibbs, Jr., born November 8, 1880. Ancestry.com. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Registration Location: Middlesex County, Massachusetts; Roll: 1684686; Draft Board: 30. At the time of the 1920 United States Census, he was living in Mount Vernon, New York with his wife, Marion, and their two children, Olive (age 11) and John (age 9). He was employed as a salesman for a contracting business.Census entry for John W. Knibbs, Jr., age 39, born in Massachusetts. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Census Place: Mount Vernon Ward 5, Westchester, New York; Roll: T625_1277; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 101; Image: 837. At the time of the 1930 United States Census, he was living in Mount Vernon, New York with his wife, Marion, and their two children, Olive (age 21) and John. W., Jr. (age 17). He was employed as an elevator salesman.Census entry for John W. Knibbs, Jr., age 49, born in Massachusetts. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Census Place: Mount Vernon, Westchester, New York; Roll: 1662; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 207; Image: 48.0. He died at a hospital in Mount Vernon on July 5, 1953.https://fultonhistory.com/newspaper%2010/Yonkers%20NY%20Herald%20Statesman/Yonkers%20NY%20Herald%20Statesman%201953%20Grayscale/Yonkers%20NY%20Herald%20Statesman%201953%20Grayscale%20-%203292.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}} His wife, Marion, had predeceased him in 1951.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/05/27/archives/obituary-1-no-title.html|title = Obituary 1 -- No Title|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 27 May 1951}} They were buried at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.