Dudley Sargent DeGroot (November 10, 1899 – May 5, 1970) was an American athlete and coach, primarily of

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

. He served as the head coach for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) from 1944 and 1945, tallying a mark of 14–5–1; his winning percentage of .737 is the best in franchise history for coaches with at least one full season. DeGroot was also the head football coach at Santa Barbara State College—now the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

—from 1926 to 1927,

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

(1932–1939), the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

(1940–1943),

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

(1948–1949), and the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

(1950–1952), compiling a career

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 ...

head coaching record of 117–67–9. In addition, he served as the head coach of the

Los Angeles Dons The Los Angeles Dons were an American football team in the newly formed football league the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946 Los Angeles Dons season, 1946 to 1949 Los Angeles Dons season, 1949, and played their home games in the L ...

of the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a major professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many ...

(AAFC) from 1946 to 1947.

Early life and playing career

DeGroot attended Sequoia High School in

Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area of Northern California, approximately south of San Francisco and northwest of San Jose, California, San Jose. The city's population was 84,292 accor ...

. 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 ...

he competed in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, football,

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

, and

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

. Playing under the head coach,

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

, he became the Stanford Cardinal football team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in 1922 and their first

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n athlete. In both 1923 and 1924, DeGroot was the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America, 4A, ICAAAA, or IC4A,

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

champion. DeGroot was a member of the United States rugby team that won an Olympic

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

during the 1924 competition in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. A journal by DeGroot about the activities of this Olympic rugby team was published throughout 23 days during July 1924 by the newspaper, The Call.

Coaching career

In 1928, DeGroot was hired as the physical director at Menlo Junior College—now known as Menlo College in Atherton, California. He coached football and basketball at Menlo for four seasons. In 1932, he left Menlo to become head football coach at San Jose State Teachers College—now known as

. Russell Sweet succeeded him as Menlo's head football coach. From 1932 through 1939, DeGroot led the San Jose State Spartans football team a 60–19–8 record. His best season there came in 1939, when his team went undefeated and had outscored opponents 324 to 29. As of 2006 on a list published on Mercury News of the seven biggest turnarounds for a single season in the history of the Spartans, only DeGroot is listed twice, for 1932 and 1937. The statistics for these are: the record for the 1932 season is 7–0–2 with a previous season of 1–7 and a margin of six and, the record for the 1937 season is 11–2–1 with a previous season of 5–4 and another margin of six. His next team leadership was at the

, where he was football coach from 1940 through 1943. DeGroot's record there was 24–6. Moving to

professional sports In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger a ...

, he then took over the

, a

(NFL) team, in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Although they lost the NFL championship for that year by one point, 15–14, to the Cleveland Rams, the Redskins won the Eastern Division title in 1945 with DeGroot as their coach. During two seasons with the

of the new

, DeGroot's record was 14–12–2. DeGroot returned to collegiate coaching as the head football coach at

during 1948 through 1949. His record for the West Virginia Mountaineers was 13–9–1. At the

from 1950 through 1952, DeGroot's record was 13–17 for the Lobos.

Scientific recognition

DeGroot received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

degree in education and was recognized as one of the foremost oologists and

ornithologists __NOTOC__ This is a list of ornithologists who have articles, in alphabetical order by surname. See also :Ornithologists. A * John Abbot – US * Clinton Gilbert Abbott – US * William Louis Abbott – US * Humayun Abdulali — India * Joseph ...

in the United States. His work in oology continues to be discussed in scientific publications.

Personal and family information

Notable members of his immediate family include his son, Dudley E. DeGroot, who obtained his doctorate degree in anthropology, and one of his daughters, Alice A. DeGroot, who became a large animal veterinarian holding patents for her inventions.

Death

DeGroot died at the age of 70 on May 5, 1970, at his home in

El Cajon, California El Cajon ( , ; Spanish language, Spanish: El Cajón, lit. 'the box') is a city in San Diego County, California, United States, east of downtown San Diego. The city takes its name from Rancho El Cajon, Rancho El Cajón, which was named for the ...

Head coaching record

College football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Degroot, Dudley 1899 births 1970 deaths American football centers American men's basketball players Los Angeles Dons coaches Menlo Oaks (junior college) football coaches Menlo Oaks athletic directors Menlo Oaks men's basketball coaches New Mexico Lobos football coaches Rochester Yellowjackets football coaches San Jose State Spartans football coaches Stanford Cardinal football players Stanford Cardinal men's basketball players Stanford Cardinal men's swimmers Stanford Cardinal men's water polo players UC Santa Barbara Gauchos athletic directors UC Santa Barbara Gauchos baseball coaches UC Santa Barbara Gauchos football coaches UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball coaches UC Santa Barbara Gauchos track and field coaches Washington Redskins head coaches West Virginia Mountaineers football coaches Junior college athletic directors in the United States Junior college men's basketball coaches in the United States Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in rugby Rugby union players at the 1924 Summer Olympics United States international rugby union players Oologists American ornithologists 20th-century American zoologists Sequoia High School (Redwood City, California) alumni Sportspeople from El Cajon, California Sportspeople from Redwood City, California Coaches of American football from California Players of American football from California Players of American football from Chicago Baseball coaches from California Basketball players from California Basketball coaches from California Basketball players from Chicago Swimmers from California Swimmers from Chicago Rugby union players from California Water polo players from Chicago 20th-century American sportsmen