Jeff Cravath
Encyclopedia
Newell "Jeff" Cravath was an American
football
coach best known as the head coach of the USC Trojans football
team from 1942-1950. He compiled a 54-28-8 record while coaching at USC, and is known to have introduced the T formation
to the USC program. Jeff was a nickname given to him when he was very young as he was a "fighter" like Jim Jeffries. He was called "little Jeffries".
; his mother died in childbirth. Jeff as a baby was brought to be raised by his grandparents Augustus and Kate Cravath of Santa Ana, California
, as well as his uncle, major league outfielder
Gavvy Cravath
, and grandparents in Kansas
; his father died when he was six.
in Santa Ana, California
, and entered the University of Southern California
, starring as a center
on the football team from 1924 to 1926; among his teammates was a young John Wayne
. Cravath also became a Sigma Chi
member at USC. In his senior year, in which he was team captain
, USC began its intersectional rivalry
with Notre Dame
; the team finished 8-2, with both losses (to Stanford
and Notre Dame) coming by 13-12 scores. All-America
n teammate Jess Hibbs
would later note, "I played with Jeff the year we opened the series against Notre Dame. He should have been made All-America center. That year the Notre Dame center [Bud Boeringer] made the team and Jeff completely outplayed him. He was a champ on and off the field." Cravath went on to play in the January 1927 East-West Shrine Game
.
in 1927-28, with the 1928 team becoming national champions. Cravath next became the head coach at Denver University
from 1929 to 1931, with a record of 11-9-1, and then served one year as an assistant at Chaffey College
. He returned to USC as an assistant coach from 1933 to 1940, including the 1939 national championship team on which he was the line coach, and was head coach at the University of San Francisco
for one year in 1941, with a record of 6-4. Jones died in July 1941, with assistant Sam Barry
taking over the USC team for that season; but when World War II
began and Barry entered the Navy
, he recommended Cravath for the position on a permanent basis (Barry returned as an assistant from 1945 to 1950). The new coach, rejected for military service due to poor eyesight, became the first USC alumnus to lead the program.
In nine seasons Cravath led USC to the Rose Bowl
four times, after the 1943, 1944, 1945 and 1947 campaigns. The Trojans defeated Washington
29-0 in the 1944 Rose Bowl and Tennessee
25-0 in the 1945 game, but lost to Alabama
in 1946 and to Michigan
in 1948 – they were USC's first losses in the Rose Bowl after eight victories. Known for their excellent defense, his 1943 team began the year with six consecutive shutouts, and his undefeated (8-0-2) 1944 team ended the season ranked seventh in the nation. After the 1945 season, Cravath was offered a five-year contract by Washington Redskins
owner George Preston Marshall
, and he told acquaintances he was going to accept; but he ultimately changed his mind and signed a five-year extension with USC. He signed another four-year extension in August 1949.
Cravath's players at USC included Ralph Heywood
, Jim Hardy
, John Ferraro
, Paul Cleary, and Frank Gifford
. But his later teams showed a sharp decline in performance from those of the war years, and USC was 11-11-4 from the third game of 1948 through 1950. His final game was a 9-7 victory over Notre Dame, his first win in six tries against USC's major rival, and also USC's 300th victory all-time. Although he had a record of 8-3-1 against crosstown rival UCLA
, the three losses were the first for USC in the series, including a 39-0 defeat in the second to last game of 1950. Cravath was also criticized for losing his last three games against California
, each by six points. He was forced to resign when the 1950 season ended with a 2-5-2 mark after beginning the year ranked 12th in the nation, and was succeeded by former USC player Jess Hill
, who was an assistant under Cravath from 1946 to 1948.
for two winters before moving to El Centro, California
and becoming a rancher. He also served as a technical advisor on the 1953 football film Trouble Along the Way
, starring his old teammate Wayne http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0186578/. He died in Calexico, California
at the age of 50, one day after suffering numerous injuries when his pickup truck collided with a dump truck; he underwent an emergency tracheotomy
, but never regained consciousness. He was survived by his wife Margaret "Peggy" (Colegrove)(b. 1907-d. 2010) and their two daughters Anne and Carol.
Sportswriter Braven Dyer noted, "For a man who was orphaned early in life, he grew out of rough surroundings to a point where he seemed always to know the right thing to say in public. I have known Cravath for something like 30 years. In many ways there was no better sport in the football coaching ranks than Cravath." Jim Hardy said, "I would go to Cravath for advice where I would not even have gone to my family. He was a friend of all his players and a good coach. He was subjected to unreasonable pressure in his last year at SC, but he never lost his interest in the game and his deep attachment to the men who played for him." Cravath was a 2005 inductee to the USC Athletic Hall of Fame.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
coach best known as the head coach of the USC Trojans football
University of Southern California Trojans football
The USC Trojans football program, established in 1888, represents the University of Southern California in college football. USC is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I FBS and the Pacific-12 Conference . The Trojans have been a football powerhouse throughout NCAA...
team from 1942-1950. He compiled a 54-28-8 record while coaching at USC, and is known to have introduced the T formation
T formation
In American football, a T formation is a formation used by the offensive team in which three running backs line up in a row about five yards behind the quarterback, forming the shape of a "T"....
to the USC program. Jeff was a nickname given to him when he was very young as he was a "fighter" like Jim Jeffries. He was called "little Jeffries".
Early life
Cravath was born in Breckenridge, ColoradoBreckenridge, Colorado
Established in 1859, the historic town of Breckenridge is a home rule municipality that is the county seat of Summit County, Colorado, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the town had a population of 4,540. The town also has many part-time residents, as many people have vacation homes in the area...
; his mother died in childbirth. Jeff as a baby was brought to be raised by his grandparents Augustus and Kate Cravath of Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana is the county seat and second most populous city in Orange County, California, and with a population of 324,528 at the 2010 census, Santa Ana is the 57th-most populous city in the United States....
, as well as his uncle, major league outfielder
Outfielder
Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...
Gavvy Cravath
Gavvy Cravath
Clifford Carlton "Gavvy" Cravath , also nicknamed "Cactus", was an American right fielder and right-handed batter in Major League Baseball who played primarily for the Philadelphia Phillies...
, and grandparents in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
; his father died when he was six.
Playing career
He graduated from Santa Ana High SchoolSanta Ana High School
Santa Ana High School is the oldest and largest high school in Orange County, California, United States. The school was established in 1889.-Notable alumni:*Beverly Bivens, singer with the 1960s band We Five*Gerald P...
in Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana is the county seat and second most populous city in Orange County, California, and with a population of 324,528 at the 2010 census, Santa Ana is the 57th-most populous city in the United States....
, and entered the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, starring as a center
Center (American football)
Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...
on the football team from 1924 to 1926; among his teammates was a young John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
. Cravath also became a Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi is the largest and one of the oldest college Greek-letter secret and social fraternities in North America with 244 active chapters and more than . Sigma Chi was founded on June 28, 1855 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio when members split from Delta Kappa Epsilon...
member at USC. In his senior year, in which he was team captain
Captain (sports)
In team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field...
, USC began its intersectional rivalry
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football rivalries
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football rivalries refers to rivalries of the University of Notre Dame in the sport of college football. Notre Dame rivalries encompass many teams. Because the Fighting Irish are independent of a football conference, they play a more national schedule, and have thus...
with Notre Dame
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...
; the team finished 8-2, with both losses (to Stanford
Stanford Cardinal
The Stanford Cardinal is the nickname of the athletic teams at Stanford University.-Nickname and mascot history:Following its win over Cal in the first-ever Big Game in 1892, the color cardinal was picked as the primary color of Stanford's athletic teams...
and Notre Dame) coming by 13-12 scores. All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n teammate Jess Hibbs
Jesse Hibbs
Jesse John Hibbs was an American film and television director and assistant director. He was previously an All-American offensive tackle for the University of Southern California football team in 1927 and 1928....
would later note, "I played with Jeff the year we opened the series against Notre Dame. He should have been made All-America center. That year the Notre Dame center [Bud Boeringer] made the team and Jeff completely outplayed him. He was a champ on and off the field." Cravath went on to play in the January 1927 East-West Shrine Game
East-West Shrine Game
The East–West Shrine Game is an annual post-season college football all-star game played each January since 1925. The game is sponsored by the fraternal group Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and the net proceeds are earmarked to some of the Shrine's charitable works, most notably the Shriners...
.
Coaching career
He became a USC assistant coach under Howard JonesHoward Jones (football coach)
Howard Harding Jones was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Syracuse University , Yale University , Ohio State University , the University of Iowa , Duke University , and the University of Southern California , compiling a career record of...
in 1927-28, with the 1928 team becoming national champions. Cravath next became the head coach at Denver University
University of Denver
The University of Denver is currently ranked 82nd among all public and private "National Universities" by U.S. News & World Report in the 2012 rankings....
from 1929 to 1931, with a record of 11-9-1, and then served one year as an assistant at Chaffey College
Chaffey College
Chaffey College is a public community college in the San Bernardino County city of Rancho Cucamonga, California, in the northern part of the community of Alta Loma. Chaffey provides students with different classes and programs, including business, science, the arts, history, philosophy,...
. He returned to USC as an assistant coach from 1933 to 1940, including the 1939 national championship team on which he was the line coach, and was head coach at the University of San Francisco
University of San Francisco
The University of San Francisco , is a private, Jesuit/Catholic university located in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1855, USF was established as the first university in San Francisco. It is the second oldest institution for higher learning in California and the tenth-oldest university of...
for one year in 1941, with a record of 6-4. Jones died in July 1941, with assistant Sam Barry
Sam Barry
Justin McCarthy "Sam" Barry was an American collegiate athletic coach who achieved significant accomplishments in three major sports. He remains one of only three coaches to lead teams to both the Final Four and the College World Series.-Early career:Barry was born in Aberdeen, South Dakota...
taking over the USC team for that season; but when World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
began and Barry entered the Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, he recommended Cravath for the position on a permanent basis (Barry returned as an assistant from 1945 to 1950). The new coach, rejected for military service due to poor eyesight, became the first USC alumnus to lead the program.
In nine seasons Cravath led USC to the Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...
four times, after the 1943, 1944, 1945 and 1947 campaigns. The Trojans defeated Washington
Washington Huskies football
College football has a long history at the University of Washington. The Washington Huskies have won 15 Pacific-10 Conference championships, seven Rose Bowl titles, and three national championships. Washington's all-time record of 653-398-50 ranks 20th by all-time winning percentage and 21st by...
29-0 in the 1944 Rose Bowl and Tennessee
Tennessee Volunteers football
The Tennessee Volunteers football team are an American college football team at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville . The NCAA Division I team is also a member of the Southeastern Conference ....
25-0 in the 1945 game, but lost to Alabama
Alabama Crimson Tide football
|TeamName = Alabama football |Image = Alabama Crimson Tide Logo.svg |ImageSize = 110 |Helmet = Alabama Football.png |ImageSize2 = 150 |CurrentSeason = 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide football team...
in 1946 and to Michigan
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
in 1948 – they were USC's first losses in the Rose Bowl after eight victories. Known for their excellent defense, his 1943 team began the year with six consecutive shutouts, and his undefeated (8-0-2) 1944 team ended the season ranked seventh in the nation. After the 1945 season, Cravath was offered a five-year contract by Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
owner George Preston Marshall
George Preston Marshall
George Preston Marshall was the owner and president of the Washington Redskins of the National Football League from 1932 until his death in 1969.-Contributions:...
, and he told acquaintances he was going to accept; but he ultimately changed his mind and signed a five-year extension with USC. He signed another four-year extension in August 1949.
Cravath's players at USC included Ralph Heywood
Ralph Heywood
Ralph Alvin Heywood was an American football player. He was the only National Football League player to serve in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, serving as a Marine Corps officer for 32 years. Born in Los Angeles, California, he was an All-American for USC in 1943.Heywood died...
, Jim Hardy
Jim Hardy
James Fred Hardy is a retired American football quarterback.-High school career:Hardy attended and played high school football at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles.-Professional career:...
, John Ferraro
John Ferraro
John Ferraro was the longest-serving Los Angeles City Council member in the history of the city—thirty-five years, from 1966 until his death in 2001—and the president of the council for fourteen of them...
, Paul Cleary, and Frank Gifford
Frank Gifford
Francis Newton "Frank" Gifford is a Hall of Fame former American football player and American sportscaster.-Early life:Gifford was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Lola Mae and Weldon Gifford, an oil driller....
. But his later teams showed a sharp decline in performance from those of the war years, and USC was 11-11-4 from the third game of 1948 through 1950. His final game was a 9-7 victory over Notre Dame, his first win in six tries against USC's major rival, and also USC's 300th victory all-time. Although he had a record of 8-3-1 against crosstown rival UCLA
UCLA Bruins Football
The UCLA Bruins football program represents the University of California, Los Angeles in college football as members of the Pacific-12 Conference at the NCAA Division I FBS level. The Bruins have enjoyed several periods of success in their history, having been ranked in the top ten of the AP Poll...
, the three losses were the first for USC in the series, including a 39-0 defeat in the second to last game of 1950. Cravath was also criticized for losing his last three games against California
California Golden Bears football
The California Golden Bears football team is the college football team of the University of California. The team plays its home games at California Memorial Stadium, however the team played at San Francisco's AT&T Park in 2011 while Memorial Stadium was being renovated, the team will return to...
, each by six points. He was forced to resign when the 1950 season ended with a 2-5-2 mark after beginning the year ranked 12th in the nation, and was succeeded by former USC player Jess Hill
Jess Hill
Jesse Terrill Hill was an American athlete, coach and college administrator who was best known for his tenure as a coach and athletic director at the University of Southern California. His career spanned six decades...
, who was an assistant under Cravath from 1946 to 1948.
After football
Afterwards, Cravath became a racing official at Santa Anita ParkSanta Anita Park
Santa Anita Park is a thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent racing events in the United States during the winter and in spring. With its backdrop of the purple San Gabriel Mountains, it is considered by many as the world's most beautiful race...
for two winters before moving to El Centro, California
El Centro, California
El Centro is a city in and county seat of Imperial County, the largest city in the Imperial Valley and the east anchor of the Southern California Border Region, and the core urban area and principal city of the El Centro metropolitan area which encompasses all of Imperial County. El Centro is also...
and becoming a rancher. He also served as a technical advisor on the 1953 football film Trouble Along the Way
Trouble Along the Way
Trouble Along the Way was a 1953 film starring John Wayne and Donna Reed, with a supporting cast including Charles Coburn and Marie Windsor. The movie was directed by Michael Curtiz, director of Casablanca. The black-and-white comedy was released by Warner Bros...
, starring his old teammate Wayne http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0186578/. He died in Calexico, California
Calexico, California
Calexico is a city in Imperial County, California. The population was 38,572 at the 2010 census, up from 27,109 at the 2000 census. Calexico is about east of San Diego and west of Yuma, Arizona...
at the age of 50, one day after suffering numerous injuries when his pickup truck collided with a dump truck; he underwent an emergency tracheotomy
Tracheotomy
Among the oldest described surgical procedures, tracheotomy consists of making an incision on the anterior aspect of the neck and opening a direct airway through an incision in the trachea...
, but never regained consciousness. He was survived by his wife Margaret "Peggy" (Colegrove)(b. 1907-d. 2010) and their two daughters Anne and Carol.
Sportswriter Braven Dyer noted, "For a man who was orphaned early in life, he grew out of rough surroundings to a point where he seemed always to know the right thing to say in public. I have known Cravath for something like 30 years. In many ways there was no better sport in the football coaching ranks than Cravath." Jim Hardy said, "I would go to Cravath for advice where I would not even have gone to my family. He was a friend of all his players and a good coach. He was subjected to unreasonable pressure in his last year at SC, but he never lost his interest in the game and his deep attachment to the men who played for him." Cravath was a 2005 inductee to the USC Athletic Hall of Fame.