Wally Butts

College coach infobox
Name = Wally Butts


Caption =
DateOfBirth = birth date|1905|2|7
Birthplace = Milledgeville, Georgia
DateOfDeath = death date and age|1973|12|17|1905|2|7
Deathplace =
Sport = Football
College = Georgia
Conference = Southeastern Conference
Title = Head Coach
OverallRecord = 140-86-9
BowlRecord = 5-2-1
Awards = SEC Championships = 1942, 1946, 1948, 1959 National Championships = 1942, 1946 (Williamson Poll)
CFbDWID = 296
Player = Y
Years = 1925-1929
Team = Mercer
Position = End
Coach = Y
CoachYears = 1938 1939-1960
CoachTeams = Georgia (Asst. coach) Georgia (Head Coach)
FootballHOF = 1997

James Wallace "Wally" Butts, Jr. (February 7, 1905 – December 17, 1973) was the head football coach (seasons 1939 through 1960) and athletic director (1939 to 1963) at the University of Georgia.

College

Butts was a 1929 graduate of Mercer University where he played college football under coach Bernie Moore.cite book |last=Thilenius |first=Ed |coauthors=Jim Koger| title=No Ifs, No Ands, a Lot of Butts: Twenty-one Years of Georgia Football |publisher=Foote & Davies Company |location=Atlanta, Georgia |year=1960 |id=LCCN|60|0|15266 |pages=p.8]

University of Georgia

Wally Butts coached the Bulldogs for 21 seasons (1939 – 1960) and continued as athletic director until 1963. [http://www.georgiadogs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=46724&SPID=3571&DB_OEM_ID=8800&ATCLID=523288 Former Head Coaches] ] Butts came to UGA as an assistant to Joel Hunt in 1938, but Hunt left UGA after a 5-4-1 season to take over at Wyoming; Butts succeeded to the post of head coach. During his tenure as head coach, Georgia won its first consensus NCAA Division 1-A college football national championship in 1942 and had a claim to the national championship in 1946 after finishing first in at least one national poll. [http://www.georgiadogs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=46724&SPID=3571&DB_OEM_ID=8800&ATCLID=526158 Georgia Football National Championships] ]

Butts coached 1942 Heisman Trophy winner Frank Sinkwich and Maxwell Award winner Charley Trippi. The 1942 team that won the 1943 Rose Bowl over UCLA had finished #2 in the nation in the AP poll and was named National Champion by other polls. His teams also won four SEC championships – 1942, 1946, 1948 and 1959. [http://www.georgiadogs.com/attachments1/1426.pdf?SPSID=46724&SPID=3571&DB_OEM_ID=8800 All-Time Winningest Division 1-A Teams] ] As head coach, Butts posted a 140-86-9 record (.615 winning percentage), including six bowl games. His bowl record was 5-2-1. [ [http://www.ncaa.org/library/records/football/football_records_book/2006/2006_d1_football_records_book.pdf Official 2006 NCAA Divisions I-A and II-A Football Records Book] , page 331]

Johnny Griffith, a former player and assistant coach to Wally Butts, succeeded to the position of head coach in 1961.

Butts was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1966 and in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997. [ [http://www.collegefootball.org/famersearch.php?id=40117 Wally Butts profile in the College Football Hall of Fame] ]

In the 1960s, he filed a libel lawsuit against the "Saturday Evening Post" after it ran an article alleging that he and Bear Bryant had conspired to fix games. "Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts", as it ultimately became when it reached the Supreme Court, was a landmark libel case. The court ruled in his favor in 1967, and the "Post" was ordered to pay $3.06 million to him in damages, an amount which was later lowered to $460,000.cite news |title=Wally Butts, Ex-Georgia Coach, Dies; Won Large Libel Suit Coached Noted Players |publisher=New York Times |page=46 |date=December 18, 1973 ] This settlement was seen as a contributing factor in the demise of the venerable "Post" two years later.

Butts died suddenly at his home from an apparent heart attack in 1973 and was buried in Oconee Hill Cemetery in Athens.

ee also

* Georgia Bulldogs football under Wally Butts

Notes

References

*cite web | year=2002 | url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/ArticlePrintable.jsp?id=h-729 | title=Wally Butts (1905-1973) | work=The New Georgia Encyclopedia | accessdate=2006-03-22
*cite web | url=http://georgiadogs.collegesports.com/sports/m-footbl/m-footbl-history/coach_bios/butts_wally.html | title=Wally Butts | work=GeorgiaDogs.com | accessdate=2006-03-22
*cite web | url=http://www.georgiadogs.com/attachments1/1426.pdf?SPSID=46724&SPID=3571&DB_OEM_ID=8800 | title=Milestones and SEC Titles | work=GeorgiaDogs.com | accessdate=2007-04-06
*cite book |last=Thilenius |first=Ed |coauthors=Jim Koger| title=No Ifs, No Ands, a Lot of Butts: Twenty-one Years of Georgia Football |publisher=Foote & Davies Company |location=Atlanta, Georgia |year=1960 |id=LCCN|60|0|15266

External links

* [http://www.collegefootball.org/famersearch.php?id=40117 College Football Hall of Fame Bio]
*findagrave|13036285

Persondata
NAME= Butts, Wally
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Butts, Wallace ; Butts, James Wallace, Jr
SHORT DESCRIPTION=American football player and coach
DATE OF BIRTH= 1905-2-7
PLACE OF BIRTH= Milledgeville, Georgia
DATE OF DEATH= 1973-12-17
PLACE OF DEATH=