Conference Independent Captain William G. Little | 1892 record 2–2 Home stadium Lakeview Park | |
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Head coach E. B. Beaumont (1st year) | ||
The 1892 Alabama Cadets football team represented the University of Alabama in the 1892 college football season. The team was led by their head coach E. B. Beaumont and played their home games at Lakeview Park in Birmingham, Alabama. In what was the inaugural season of Alabama football, the team finished with a record of two wins and two losses (2–2).
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William Little of Livingston, Alabama is credited with being responsible for the introduction of football at the university. After playing the game in 1891 while in attendance at a northern prep school, Little returned to Alabama where he helped establish the first team at the university for the 1892 season. The first game in Alabama football history was played on November 11, 1892, against Birmingham High School and was won by the Cadets 56–0. They then split a pair of games with the Birmingham Athletic Club, and closed out the season with a 32–22 loss in the first Iron Bowl against Auburn on February 22, 1893. After the season, Beaumont was fired as head coach and replaced by Eli Abbott for the 1893 season.
Background
The first college football game was played on November 6, 1869, between Rutgers and the College of New Jersey. Although the sport continued to grow, it was not introduced for another 23 years at Alabama. The man credited with the introduction of football at Alabama was William G. Little of Livingston. Little attended the Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire for the 1891–92 school year. It was there that he first played and became an advocate for football. Originally he intended to attend Yale University. However, after his brother died, Little returned to Livingston in 1892 and enrolled at Alabama. He proposed the university field a football team, which was introduced for the 1892 season. Alabama selected Little as the first team captain for the inaugural 1892 season. The team was called the "Cadets," as the current "Crimson Tide" moniker was not used until 1907.
Schedule
Players
The following players were members of the 1892 football team according to the roster published in the 1893 edition of The Corolla, the University of Alabama yearbook.
After the season
Although they finished with a .500 record, after the completion of the season, E. B. Beaumont was fired as Alabama's head coach. The 1894 edition of the university yearbook The Corolla stated of the Beaumont firing:
"We were unfortunate in securing a coach. After keeping him for a short time, we found that his knowledge of the game was very limited. We, therefore, 'got rid of' him."
After Beaumont's departure, William G. Little continued the training of the team until Abbott was selected to serve as head coach for the 1893 season. Other notable players from the first Alabama team included William B. Bankhead who served as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1936 to 1940 and Bibb Graves who served as the 38th Governor of Alabama from 1927 to 1931 and again from 1935 to 1939.