Jim Sutherland

{{Short description|American football player and coach (1914–1980)}}

{{for|the Australian footballer|Jim Sutherland (Australian footballer)}}

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

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Jim Sutherland

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1914|8|20}}

| birth_place = Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1980|6|21|1914|8|20}}

| death_place = Hayden Lake, Idaho, U.S.

| alma_mater =

| player_years1 = 1934–1936

| player_team1 = USC

| player_positions = Halfback

| coach_years1 = 1937–1940

| coach_team1 = Santa Monica HS (CA) (JV)

| coach_years2 = 1941–1952

| coach_team2 = Santa Monica HS (CA)

| coach_years3 = 1953–1954

| coach_team3 = California (backfield)

| coach_years4 = 1955

| coach_team4 = Washington (offense)

| coach_years5 = 1956–1963

| coach_team5 = Washington State

| overall_record = 37–39–4 (college)
79–13–3 (high school)

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships =

| awards =

| coaching_records =

}}

{{Infobox military person

|allegiance = {{USA}}

|branch = {{flag|United States Navy}}

|rank =

|battles = World War II

|unit =

|serviceyears =

|awards =

}}

James Swanson Sutherland (August 20, 1914 – June 21, 1980) was an American football player and coach. {{nowrap|He was}} the head coach at Washington State University in Pullman from 1956 to 1963, with a {{nowrap|{{winning percentage|37|39|4|record=y}}}} record in eight seasons.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ic8zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=avcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7137%2C1532837 |newspaper=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=(Washington)|last=Johnson |first=Bob |title=WSU in market for new coach |date=December 6, 1963 |page=16 }}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GZwRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=a-MDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6932%2C1336718 |newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon)|agency=Associated Press |title=Sutherland out as grid coach |date=December 6, 1963 |page=2B}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=js1eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xDIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5341%2C1034226 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |title=Sutherland out as football coach at Washington State |date=December 6, 1963 |page=14}} An innovator,{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KFVOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zu4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2147%2C4100322 |newspaper=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington)|last=Missildine |first=Harry |title=WSU's Jim Sutherland - one of football's great inventors |date=June 24, 1980 |page=21 }} Sutherland ran a prototypical run-and-shoot offense at WSU in the {{nowrap|early 1960s.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KFVOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zu4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2210%2C4363301 |newspaper=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |last=Missildine |first=Harry |title=Coach Sutherland saved his last invention for his final victory |date=June 25, 1980 |page=C1 }}}}

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sutherland moved from Canada to southern California at age nine and graduated from Inglewood High School in 1933. He attended the University of Southern California (USC) and was a halfback for the Trojans from {{nowrap|1934 to 1936,}} listed at {{height|ft=5|in=10}} and {{convert|184|lb|abbr=on}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-footbl/archive/usc-m-fb-a-lett-pqrs.html |publisher=USC Athletics |title=Football: All-Time Lettermen, P-S |accessdate=October 6, 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009035342/http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-footbl/archive/usc-m-fb-a-lett-pqrs.html |archivedate=October 9, 2014 }}

After graduating from USC in 1937, Sutherland stayed in the Los Angeles area and became a football and track coach at Santa Monica High School.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=D3YKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gEsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6897%2C760181 |newspaper=Ellensburg Daily Record |location=(Washington)|agency=Associated Press |title=Sutherland signed for Cougar post |date=January 18, 1956 |page=8}} He was its head football coach from 1941 to 1952, with the exception of three years that he served in the {{nowrap|U.S. Navy}} during {{nowrap|World War II;{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1338&dat=19560118&id=QgNYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=q_YDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1006,2382297 |title=Sutherland named WSC coach; Ex-U. of Washington aide gets grid job |newspaper=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=(Washington)|date=January 18, 1956 |page=21}}}} his record at SMHS {{nowrap|was {{winning percentage|79|13|3|record=y}}.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-10-13-we-4943-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |last=Ripton |first=Ray |title=A players' coach : Santa Monica's Tebb Kusserow believes football is a chance for young men to know themselves |date=October 13, 1988 |access-date=October 6, 2014}}}}

Sutherland became a college assistant in 1953 at the University of California in Berkeley under Pappy Waldorf for two years, then moved to the University of Washington in Seattle in 1955 under head coach {{nowrap|John Cherberg.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QgNYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=q_YDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1002%2C2282548 |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=(Washington) |title=Sutherland named WSC coach |date=January 18, 1956 |page=21}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9BBWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ceIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4749%2C2585544 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=Associated Press |title=WSC hires Sutherland |date=January 18, 1956 |page=2B}}{{cite news |agency=UPI |title=Sutherland through as grid coach at Washington State |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1243&dat=19631206&id=MmZYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3PcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1420,3877307 |newspaper=Bend Bulletin |location=(Oregon) |date=December 6, 1963 |page=8}}}}

In his final season at WSU in 1963, Sutherland's salary was $17,500, near the top for West Coast coaches. After a {{nowrap|3–6–1 season,}} he voluntarily stepped down in December with a year remaining on his contract, and then owned several automobile dealerships in Spokane.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19680403&id=KzxWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eOkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6202,494740 |newspaper=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington)|title=Lincoln-Mercury auto dealership is changed |date=April 3, 1968 |page=5 }}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=B88zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KvgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4170%2C2689947 |newspaper=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=(Washington) |title=Car firm builds winning 'team' |date=October 9, 1968 |page=57 }}

Following an extended illness, Sutherland died in 1980 at age 65 at his home in Hayden Lake, Idaho,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19800624&id=OINRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_hEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5051,4149801 |title=Football |newspaper=Milwaukee Sentinel |date=June 24, 1980 |page=2, part 2 }}{{Dead link|date=November 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KFVOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zu4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7276%2C4116639 |newspaper=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |title=Sutherland, James S. |agency=Funerals |date=June 24, 1980 |page=25}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=s6lfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mTIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3022%2C3241662 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |agency=Associated Press |title=Jim Sutherland, former WSU coach, dead at 65 following long illness |date=June 24, 1980 |page=1C}} and was buried in Coeur d'Alene.