Reginald D. Root 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 ...

and men's lacrosse 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 ...

. A native of

Le Roy, New York Le Roy, or more commonly LeRoy, is a town in Genesee County, New York, United States. The population was 7,662 at the time of the 2020 census. The town is named after one of the original land owners, Herman Le Roy. The town lies in eastern Gen ...

, Root graduated from Yale in 1926. He was "one of the best lacrosse players ever turned out by Yale" and 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 ...

for the

Bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a stocky, muscular dog of medium size, with a large head, thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a rel ...

from as a backup tackle in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

and

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

. In 1929, Root was named the head coach at the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

, even meeting the

President of Mexico The president of Mexico (), officially the president of the United Mexican States (), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Constitution of Mexico, the president heads the executive branch of the federal government and ...

Emilio Portes Gil Emilio Cándido Portes Gil (; 3 October 1890 – 10 December 1978) was a Mexican politician, lawyer and diplomat who served as the 48th President of Mexico from 1928 to 1930, one of three to serve out the six-year term of President-elect Gener ...

, to discuss the sport. His team played against

Mississippi College Mississippi College (MC) is a private university affiliated with the Mississippi Baptist Convention and located in Clinton, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1826, MC is the second oldest Baptists, Baptist-affiliated college or university in ...

in 1929 and 1930. Root developed a strong

forward pass In several forms of football, a forward pass is the throwing of the ball in the direction in which the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line. The legal and widespread use of the forward pass distinguishes grid ...

attack, completing a school-record 23 passes in their 1929 matchup against Mississippi College, and mixed English and Spanish expletives into his pep talks. When

Dwight Morrow Dwight Whitney Morrow (January 11, 1873October 5, 1931) was an American businessman, diplomat, and politician, best known as the U.S. ambassador who improved U.S.–Mexico relations, mediating the religious conflict in Mexico known as the Crister ...

, the

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico The United States has maintained diplomatic relations with Mexico since 1823, when Andrew Jackson was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to that country. Jackson declined the appointment, however, and Joel R. Poinsett bec ...

, attended a team practice, he walked off the field with the remark: "Did he learn all those cuss words at Yale?" After two seasons with the team, Root returned to Yale as an assistant

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

and

junior varsity A varsity team is the highest-level team in a sport or activity representing an educational institution. Varsity teams train to compete against each other during an athletic season or in periodic matches against rival institutions. At High school, ...

coach in 1931 and 1932. He succeeded

Mal Stevens Marvin Allen "Mal" Stevens (April 14, 1900 – December 6, 1979) was an American football player, coach, naval officer, and orthopedic surgeon. He served as the head football coach at Yale University from 1928 to 1932 and New York University (NY ...

as Yale head coach for the 1933 season. In his lone season at the helm, Root compiled a record of 4–4. Root also served as the Yale men's lacrosse coach for two stints, first during the 1929–1930 to 1930–1931 seasons and later during the 1936–1937 to 1942–1943 seasons while compiling a record of 42–27–1.

Head coaching record

Men's lacrosse

† Competed as an independent

Football

References

Year of birth missing Year of death missing Yale Bulldogs football players Yale Bulldogs football coaches Yale Bulldogs men's lacrosse coaches Coaches of American football from New York (state) Players of American football from New York (state) Lacrosse players from New York (state) People from Le Roy, New York American expatriate sportspeople in Mexico {{1930s-collegefootball-coach-stub