William Penn Bates

{{Infobox college coach

| name = William Penn Bates

| image = 1903 W. P. Bates Auburn football head coach.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Bates at Auburn in 1903

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1879|6|7}}

| birth_place = Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1956|3|2|1879|6|7}}

| death_place = Sarasota, Florida, U.S.

| alma_mater =

| player_sport1 = Football

| player_years2 = 1898–1901

| player_team2 = Brown

| player_sport3 = Baseball

| player_years4 = {{Circa|1900}}

| player_team4 = Brown

| player_positions = Fullback (football)
First baseman, pitcher (baseball)

| coach_sport1 = Football

| coach_years2 = 1902

| coach_team2 = Northwestern Academy (IL)

| coach_years3 = 1903

| coach_team3 = Auburn

| coach_years4 = 1904–1905

| coach_team4 = Franklin & Marshall

| coach_sport5 = Basketball

| coach_years6 = 1903–1905

| coach_team6 = Franklin & Marshall

| coach_sport7 = Baseball

| coach_years8 = 1905–1906

| coach_team8 = Franklin & Marshall

| admin_years1 = 1902–1903

| admin_team1 = Northwestern Academy (IL)

| overall_record = 8–19 (college football)
11–9 (college basketball)
6–14–1 (college baseball)

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships =

| awards =

| coaching_records =

}}

William Penn Bates (June 7, 1879 – March 2, 1956) was an American college football player, coach of college football, college basketball, and college baseball, engineer, and hospital administator. He played football as a fullback at Brown University for four years, including as team captain in 1901.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QfomAQAAIAAJ&q=%22w.+p.+bates%22+football&pg=PA230 |title=The Dartmouth |access-date=23 January 2013 |date=21 September 1900 |publisher=The Dartmouth Press |location=Hanover, NH |pages=230 }}{{cite web

|editor=Thacher Howland Guild

|editor2=Walter Louis Frost

|editor3=Robert Irving Steere

|editor4=John Boyden Eaton

|editor5=James Duncan McLeod

|editor6=Michael John Linden

|editor7=Howard Hiram Tucker

|editor8=Stewart Baker McLeod

|editor9=Edward Farnham Greene

|editor10=Arthur Ogden Clift

|editor11=John Packard Gray

|editor12=Earnest Palmer Carr

|editor13=Henry Cleaves Sullivan

|url=https://archive.org/stream/liberbrunensis1901brow#page/215/mode/1up |title=Liber Brunensis |access-date=23 January 2013 |year=1901|type=Annual|volume=43 |publisher=Brown University |location=Springfield, MA |pages=215 }} Bates served as the head football coach at Auburn University in 1903 and at Franklin & Marshall College from 1904 to 1905, compiling a career coaching record of 8–19. Bates was also the head basketball coach at Franklin & Marshall from 1903 to 1905, tallying a mark of 11–9, and the head baseball coach at the school from 1905 to 1906, notching a record of 6–14–1.

Early life and college career

Bates was born on June 7, 1879, in Providence, Rhode Island, to Dr. William Lincoln and Dr. Martha Boyce Bates.{{cite news |author= |title=William Penn Bates, Former Engineer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newport-daily-news/169020763/ |newspaper=The Newport Daily News |location=Newport, Rhode Island |date=March 5, 1956 |page=2 |access-date=March 28, 2025 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}

Coaching career

After graduating from Brown in 1902, Bates went to Northwestern University as a graduate student. In the fall of 1902, he coached the football team at Northwestern Academy.{{cite news |author= |title=Bates For Baseball Coach |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-inter-ocean/169045202/ |newspaper=The Inter Ocean |location=Chicago, Illinois |date=December 18, 1902 |page=4 |access-date=March 28, 2025 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }} He also served as athletic director for Northwestern Academy into 1903, when he was offered a coaching position by the University of Kentucky. The University of Texas was also interested in hiring him.{{cite news |author= |title=Bates Is Wanted In The South |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune/169045003/ |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |location=Chicago, Illinois |date=February 10, 1903 |page=8 |access-date=March 28, 2025 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}

In late February 1903, Bates accepted an offer to coached the football team at Auburn University for a salary of $1,000.{{cite news |author= |title=Bates Accepts Alabama Offer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune/169045991/ |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |location=Chicago, Illinois |date=February 24, 1903 |page=7 |access-date=March 28, 2025 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }} He led the 1903 Auburn Tigers football team to a record of 4–3.{{Cite web

|editor=George Dunglinson, Jr.

|editor2=John McDuffie, Jr.

|editor3=W. M. Wilson

|editor4=A. W. Merkel

|editor5=H. McDonnell

|editor6=W. H. McEniry

|editor7=A. G. Jones

|editor8=W. M. Shepard

|title=Glomerata

|type=Annual

|url=http://content.lib.auburn.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/gloms1897/id/2283/rec/16

|access-date=23 January 2013

|volume=7

|year=1904

|publisher=Alabama Polytechnic Institute

|location= Auburn, AL

|page=175

}}

The following year, Bates became the head football coach at Franklin & Marshall College located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He held that position for the 1904 and 1905 seasons, compiling a record of 4–16.

Later life and death

Bates worked as an engineer on the design of the Holland Tunnel. In 1928, he moved to Jamestown, Rhode Island to his assist his father in managing Bates Sanitorium. Upon his father's death in 1931, he became manager of the sanitorium. In 1944, Bates moved to Wakefield, Rhode Island. He died of a heart attack, on March 2, 1956, while vacationing in Sarasota, Florida.