Raymond Edward George (January 7, 1918 – January 12, 1995) was an

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 ...

player and coach. He played

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 ...

at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(USC) and professionally in 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) with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

and

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. George was the head football coach at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

from 1951 to 1953, compiling a record of 12–14–4. He also served three stints as an assistant football coach at his alma mater, USC.

Playing career

George played college football at the

as a tackle under Hall of Fame coach Howard Jones from 1936 to 1938.Dan Weber
USC Loses a Longtime Fan
, The Press-Enterprise, October 29, 2008, Accessed April 19, 2012.Ear; Gustkey

''Los Angeles Times'', December 24, 1995, accessed April 19, 2012. His senior season was successful, as the Trojans upset both top-ranked rival Notre Dame, 13–0, and previously unbeaten and unscored-upon

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

, 7–3, in the

1939 Rose Bowl The 1939 Rose Bowl was the 25th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Monday, January 2 and concluded the 1938 college football season. The seventh-ranked USC Trojans of the Pacific Coast ...

.Richard Dunn
Ray George, Millennium Hall of Fame
''Daily Pilot'', February 19, 2001, accessed April 19, 2012. In 1939, George was the second USC player ever drafted by an NFL team; he taken by the

as the 87th overall pick. He played two years of professional football, in 1939 with the Lions and in 1940 with the

Coaching career

After playing football George returned to California and became a coach at

Porterville High School Porterville High School is a high school located in Porterville, California. The school was erected in 1896. It is part of the Porterville Unified School District and has students enrolled from 9–12 grade. It is named for the city of Portervi ...

Porterville, California Porterville is a city at the base of Southern Sierra Nevada mountains on the eastern side of San Joaquin Valley, in Tulare County, California, United States. It is part of the Visalia-Porterville metropolitan statistical area. Serving as the ...

before joining the military in 1942 and ultimately reaching the rank of lieutenant. He returned from the service to USC where he acted as a line coach from 1946 to 1950.

Texas A&M

George was the 17th head coach of the

Texas A&M Aggies The Texas A&M Aggies are the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname "wikt:aggie#Etymology 2, Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also simply referr ...

College Station, Texas College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, United States, situated in East-Central Texas in the Brazos Valley, towards the eastern edge of the region known as the Texas Triangle. It is northwest of Houston and east-northeast of Austin, ...

. He was head coach from 1951 until the completion of the 1953 season. His teams produced a total record of 12 wins, 14 losses, and 4 ties.College Football Data Warehouse
Raymond George records by year Among his wins were victories over

Bud Wilkinson Charles Burnham "Bud" Wilkinson (April 23, 1916 – February 9, 1994) was an American football player, coach, broadcaster, and politician. He served as the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1947 to 1963, compiling a record of ...

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

Henry Russell Sanders Henry Russell "Red" Sanders (May 7, 1905 – August 14, 1958) was an American college football player and coach. He was head footnall coach at Vanderbilt University (1940–1942, 1946–1948) and the University of California, Los Angeles (1949 ...

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

and

Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...

. Bryant succeeded George at Texas A&M.

Return to USC

After leaving Texas A&M, George went into private business. He persuaded to return to coaching by USC head coach Don Clark in 1958. For five years, George served as John McKay's senior assistant, where he was a part of the 1962 championship team. George retired after the championship, reentering the private business realm and serving as vice president of sales for Transamerica Title Insurance Company for six years. He returned to USC again in January 1971, this time as both an assistant athletic director and assistant football coach. He was an assistant on both the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

and

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

national championship teams before focusing solely on working as an assistant athletic director, retiring from that position in 1985. George died on January 12, 1995, at age 78, of complications from a stroke, in

Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish language, Spanish for "coastal tableland") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including ...

. In 2001, he was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:George, Raymond 1918 births 1995 deaths American businesspeople in insurance American football tackles Detroit Lions players Philadelphia Eagles players Texas A&M Aggies football coaches USC Trojans football coaches USC Trojans football players High school football coaches in California Sportspeople from Porterville, California Players of American football from Los Angeles Players of American football from St. Louis Sports coaches from Los Angeles