A Forgotten First National Championship: The 1914 Army Football Team

by Mike Belter

Overview

See how the Army college football team was able to win all nine games during the 1914 season. Army decisively played and defeated teams from Rutgers, Colgate, Villanova, Notre Dame, Navy and others. The team was later named by the NCAA as one of three national college football champions for 1914. Bradley, Van Fleet, Stilwell and thirty other players and coaches later became General officers and fought in three major wars. Six players and coaches were later named to the National Football Foundation's Hall of Fame, including Tennessee's head football coach Bob Neyland and all-around athlete Ollie Oliphant.
The United States Military Academy at West Point (Army) had played college football since 1890, and never had an undefeated until its 25th season in 1914. Over 200 out of 600 Cadets turned out in early September for the football team, and Head Coach Charlie Daly selected sixty for the team. Between six days of classes, military drills and parades, and the dangers of learning to ride horses (a major cause of season-ending injuries), the Cadets practiced one or two hours late each day in order to play on Saturdays. This team won nine straight games, including handily defeating a Notre Dame team that had beat them 35-13 the season before and becoming the first favored team to win the Army-Navy game since 1905.
Follow how Army football started and the day to day activities of the 1914 season. See what happened to the 83 coaches and players after they hung up their cleats and became Army Officers, coaches, and presidents of companies and of the USA (Eisenhower was a Cadet coach during the 1914 season and spent his early military career coaching military football squads). They married and had families, some were killed or died on active duty, some lost loved ones early, and many achieved some remarkable accomplishments.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940153085326
Publisher:	Mike Belter
Publication date:	06/16/2016
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	1,064,840
File size:	601 KB

About the Author

Mike Belter is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He also holds graduate degrees from Ball State University and Syracuse University. Mike has worked many years for one of America’s largest electric utilities in a variety of roles. He is heavily involved in the Baldrige process, being a volunteer in the national Baldrige Performance Excellence Program; state/regional programs, the Alliance for Performance Excellence, and the Communities of Excellence program. Mike is a retired Army Officer, having served in active Army, Army Reserve, and National Guard units as a Finance Officer, Operations Research Analyst, Inspector General, and Comptroller. He served in Desert Shield at Norfolk Naval Base and in Operation Iraqi Freedom in Baghdad. Mike and his wife live in the Midwest with their pound-puppies and love to holiday in Bermuda.