John Philip Sabo (1900 – April 26, 1958) 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 ...

coach. He was a football player at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

in 1918 and 1920. He returned to his alma mater to serve as an assistant coach in both football and basketball. While at Illinois he was the president of the

Sigma Pi Sigma Pi () is a collegiate fraternity in North America. As of 2021, it had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 118,000 alumni. The fraternity is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded on February 26, 1897, at Vincennes Uni ...

fraternity chapter and received his degree in 1922. Sabo served as the head basketball coach at 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 ...

from 1922 to 1923. In 1934, he became the head basketball coach at the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

Burlington, Vermont Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is the List of municipalities in Vermont, most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the county seat, seat of Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County. It is located south of the Can ...

, a position he held for six seasons. He also served as Vermont's head football coach from 1934 to 1939. He rounded out his career as an assistant football coach 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 ...

. When the United States entered

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Sabo completed a training course at

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

and was commissioned as a Lieutenant Commander in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

in 1942. He was assigned to oversee physical conditioning at one of the navy's training centers.

Head coaching record

Football

Basketball

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabo, John P. 1900 births 1958 deaths American football ends Basketball coaches from Indiana Illinois Fighting Illini football coaches Illinois Fighting Illini football players Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball coaches Kansas Jayhawks football coaches People from South Bend, Indiana Players of American football from Indiana Rochester Yellowjackets men's basketball coaches Vermont Catamounts football coaches Vermont Catamounts men's basketball coaches Yale Bulldogs football coaches United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy officers Sigma Pi members