William Francis Knox (January 29, 1885 – December 21, 1975) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player and coach and lawyer. He played college football for

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

and was selected as a first-team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n halfback in 1906. He was the head coach of the 1907 Yale football team which finished the season with a record of 9–0–1. He later became an attorney and was a founder and member of the Pittsburgh law firm of Moorhead & Knox.

Early years

Knox was born in

Connellsville, Pennsylvania Connellsville is a city in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, southeast of Pittsburgh and away via the Youghiogheny River, a tributary of the Monongahela River. It is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 7,637 at t ...

, in 1885. His father, Alfred C. Knox, was a Pennsylvania native and a banker. His mother, Annie E. Knox, was also a Pennsylvania native. At the time of the 1900 United States Census, Knox was living in Ben Avon, a suburb of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, with his parents and three sisters Louise, Juliet, and Mary. His uncle was

Philander C. Knox Philander Chase Knox (May 6, 1853October 12, 1921) was an American lawyer, bank director and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Knox served in the Cabinet of three different presidents and represented Pennsylvania in the United States ...

, who served as the United States Attorney General (1901–1904), United States Senator (1904–1909, 1917–1921), and United States Secretary of State (1909–1913).

Yale and University of Pittsburgh

Knox enrolled at

. While attending Yale, he played for the

Yale Bulldogs football The Yale Bulldogs football program represents Yale University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). Yale's football program is one of the oldest in the world, having begun competi ...

team and was selected as a first-team All-American halfback in 1906. After graduating from Yale, he returned in the fall of 1907 as Yale's head football coach. Knox led the 1907 Yale football team to an undefeated season with a record of 9–0–1. The team's only setback was a 0–0 tie against Army. During the period from 1899 to 1912, Yale had 14 different head football coaches in 14 years – despite compiling a combined record of 127–11–10 in those years. During that 14-year span, the Yale football team has also been recognized as the national championship team by one or more of the major national championship selectors on seven occasions – 1900 (Billingsley, Helms, Houlgate, National Championship Foundation, Parke Davis), 1901 (Parke Davis), 1902 (Parke Davis), 1905 (Parke Davis, Whitney), 1906 (Billingsley, Parke Davis, Whitney), 1907 (Billingsley, Helms, Houlgate, National Championship Foundation, Parke Davis, Whitney), and 1909 (Billingsley, Helms, Houlgate, National Championship Foundation, Parke Davis). Knox later attended the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

law school from which he graduated in 1910. At the time of the 1910 United States Census, Knox was living with his parents and three sisters at the family home on Brighton Road in Ben Avon.

Carnegie Mellon

While living in Pittsburgh, Knox served as the head coach of the

1908 Carnegie Tech Tartans football team The 1908 Carnegie Tech Tartans football team represented the Carnegie Institute of Technology—now known as Carnegie Mellon University—as an independent during the 1908 college football season. Led by William F. Knox in his first and only se ...

, finishing with a record of 3 wins and 7 losses.

Legal career and family

After graduating from law school, Knox had a long career as a lawyer in Pittsburgh. In 1917, he formed a law partnership with William S. Moorhead Sr., the father of William S. Moorhead, who later served as a U.S. Congressman from 1959 to 1981. Their firm, Moorhead and Knox, became a prestigious Pittsburgh law firm. Knox remained active in the firm until his retirement in 1973. At the time of the 1920 United States Census, Knox was living with his wife, Ruth T. Knox, and son William F. Knox Jr. at 6923 Brighton Road in Ben Avon, Pennsylvania. The family also had a live-in maid, Mary Kramer. At the time of the

1930 United States Census The United States census of 1930, conducted by the Census Bureau one month from April 1, 1930, determined the resident population of the United States to be 122,775,046, an increase of 13.7 percent over the 106,021,537 persons enumerated durin ...

, Knox was living in Pittsburgh with his wife, Ruth, and their two sons, William F. Knox Jr. and James Knox. Knox's son William F. Knox enrolled at Yale in 1936. He died at age 19 when he fell almost 200 feet to his death while climbing a train trestle over

Manhasset Bay Manhasset Bay, New York, is an embayment in western Long Island off Long Island Sound. Description Manhasset Bay forms the northeastern boundary of the Great Neck Peninsula and the southwestern boundary of Cow Neck (Port Washington Peninsula ...

at daybreak. In a draft registration card completed in 1942, Knox indicated that he was living at 8 Robin Road in Pittsburgh and that he was a member of the firm of Moorhead & Knox with offices in the Oliver Building in Pittsburgh.Draft registration card for William F. Knox, born January 29, 1885. Ancestry.com. U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 atabase on-line National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; State Headquarters: Pennsylvania; Microfilm Series: M1951; Microfilm Roll: 166. Knox also served on the board of directors of National Union Fire Insurance Co. and the Duquesne Slag Co. Knox died at the Shadyside Hospital in Pittsburgh in December 1975 at age 90.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knox, William F. 1885 births 1975 deaths American football fullbacks Yale Bulldogs football coaches Carnegie Mellon Tartans football coaches Yale Bulldogs football players Yale Bulldogs men's ice hockey players All-American college football players University of Pittsburgh School of Law alumni People from Connellsville, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Lawyers from Pittsburgh