Clifford Douglas "Pop" Bliss (July 16, 1870 – March 26, 1948) was an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player and coach. He served as the head football coach at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Fr ...

, and the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

, compiling a career coaching record of 15–6–1. Bliss played football at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

as a halfback alongside his brother, Laurie Bliss, who went on to coach at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

and

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

Playing career

Bliss was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and attended

, where he played halfback. With his brother, Laurie Bliss, in the same backfield, he led Yale to back-to-back national championships and undefeated seasons in 1891 and 1892. Coached by Walter Camp, Yale did not allow opposing teams to score a single point in those two seasons.

Coaching career

In 1893, Bliss was named head football coach at

. Bliss, who had graduated from Yale the year before, was filling in for Walter Camp, who was the school's first coach in 1892 and returned in 1894. Bliss' team was undefeated with one tie. In 1894, Bliss coached

but the team did not win a single game. In 1895, Bliss became the fifth head coach for the University of Missouri–Columbia Tigers located in

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1821 as the county seat of Boone County, Missouri, Boone County and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Misso ...

where his team record was 7–1.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* 1870 births 1948 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football halfbacks Haverford Fords football coaches Missouri Tigers football coaches Stanford Cardinal football coaches Yale Bulldogs football players Players of American football from New York City Coaches of American football from New York (state) {{1890s-collegefootball-coach-stub