George W. "Tank" McLaren (August 29, 1896 – November 13, 1967) 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 ...

and

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

player and coach. Playing at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

under legendary football 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 ...

, McLaren was an All-American in

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

and

1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...

. During his playing career, he was never stopped for a loss on a running play. McLaren served as head football coach at

Emporia State University Emporia State University (Emporia State or ESU) is a public university in Emporia, Kansas, United States. Established in March 1863 as the Kansas State Normal School, Emporia State is the third-oldest public university in the state of Kansas. E ...

, then known as Kansas State Normal College, (1919), the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

(1920–1921), the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

(1922–1926), and the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

(1927–1929), compiling a career college football head coaching record of 32–55–8. He also coached

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 ...

at Wyoming for two seasons (1928–1930), tallying a mark of 28–10. McLaren was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

as a player in 1965.

Early life

McLaren grew up in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, where graduated from Peabody High School. He played football at Peabody and competed in several other sports including track,

, and

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University of Pittsburgh

McLaren attended the

, where he was considered one of the greatest all-around athletes that Pitt ever produced. In addition to being a football All-American, he was also a two-year member of the basketball and track teams. McLaren played four varsity seasons as fullback at Pittsburgh from 1915 to 1918. While playing for the Panthers he only lost one game while winning thirty decisions. He was a member of three

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

-winning teams under head coach Glenn "Pop" Warner. In 1916, the Panthers beat several national powers while not giving up a single point. During the next two seasons McLaren won All-America honors. In 1917 season, McLaren helped the Panthers to a 10–0 record. That season, he established single season school records when he scored 13 touchdowns and rushed for 782 yards including a then record 91-yard

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

against

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

. Pitt's undefeated 1917 team was known as "The Fighting Dentists" because on occasion every position was filled by dental students. The dental students on the 1917 team included McLaren,

Katy Easterday Roy Alexander "Katy" Easterday (June 29, 1894 – May 26, 1976) was an American football and basketball player, track and field athlete, coach, college athletics administrator, and dentist. He played at the halfback position for the Pittsburgh Pa ...

, Skip Gougler, "Jake" Stahl, and

Jock Sutherland John Bain Sutherland (March 21, 1889 – April 11, 1948) was an American football player and coach. He coached college football at Lafayette College (1919–1923) and the University of Pittsburgh (1924–1938) and professional football for the ...

. In 1918, his senior season, he served as Captain of the Panther football team and was also president of his senior class. He still ranks among the University of Pittsburgh all-time leaders in both scoring (183 points) and rushing (1,920 yards). One of McLaren's most noted achievements was that he was never stopped for a loss on a running play.

College coach

McLaren was a college football coach from 1919 to 1929. In 1919, McLaren was named as head football coach at

, then known as Kansas State Normal College, in

Emporia, Kansas Emporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 24,139. Emporia lies between Topeka, Kansas, Topeka and Wichita, Kansas, Wichita ...

. He got the position based on a recommendation by Pop Warner. He coached at Kansas State Normal for just the 1919 season, leading his team to a record of 1–5–2. He next served as the head football coach at the

, where he compiled an 8–5–3 record. As Arkansas head football coach McLaren personally was a very popular coach but was let go because number of wins did not meet expectations. From 1922 to 1926, he coached at the

, where he compiled a 16–26–3 record. From 1927 to 1929, he coached at the

, where he compiled a 7–19 record. His overall record as a college football coach was 32–55–8.

After coaching

After his coaching career, McLaren worked in the industrial relations division of a company in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

. He was inducted into the National Football Foundation's

in 1965.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McLaren, George 1896 births 1967 deaths American football fullbacks American men's basketball players Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches Emporia State Hornets football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football players Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball players Pittsburgh Panthers men's track and field athletes Wyoming Cowboys basketball coaches Wyoming Cowboys football coaches All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pittsburgh Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Pittsburgh Track and field athletes from Pennsylvania