Sport(s) Football Name George Pyle Overall 26–7–3 | 1914–1917 West Virginia 1909–1913 Florida | |
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Role American football head coach Died August 1, 1949, Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States | ||
George E. Pyle (1886 – August 23, 1949) was an American college football coach and college athletics administrator. He was the second head coach of the Florida Gators football team that represents the University of Florida. Pyle served as the athletic director for West Virginia University from 1914 to 1917.
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Coaching career
Pyle replaced Jack Forsythe as the Florida head football coach, and he held that position for five seasons, from 1909 to 1913. During that period, he accumulated a 26–7–3 record and a 0.764 winning percentage, making him the third winningest coach in school history after Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer. In 1911, Pyle led Florida to its first and only undefeated season when the newly named Gators posted a 5–0–1 record.
In 1912, Florida posted a 5–2–1 record. After the season, the team participated in its first post-season game, the Bacardi Bowl held in Havana, Cuba. It was actually a two-game series against different Cuban athletic clubs. The first game was played on December 25 under the so-called "old rules" that existed before the American football reforms of 1906. In that game, Florida defeated the Vedado Tennis Club, 28–0. On December 30, Florida played the Cuban Athletic Club of Havana under the "new rules." According to one source, the game's referee was a former coach for the Cuban team, and the officiating was blatantly biased. After two Florida touchdowns were nullified by questionable officiating, Pyle protested a fifteen-yard penalty. When the referee offered a five-yard penalty instead, Pyle and his team left the game in protest. Another source states that the game ended late in the first quarter after a fight broke out between the teams; Florida accused the Cuban team of still playing under "the old rules." Regardless of the reason for the forfeiture, Pyle was arrested by the Cuban authorities. He was charged with violating a law that prohibited a game's suspension after money had been collected. After his trial was delayed, Pyle and the Gators left the island country, which caused him to be branded a "fugitive from justice."
Life after football
Pyle left the University of Florida after the 1913 season and became the athletic director for West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. After leaving college athletics, he worked as an insurance agent in Bristol, Tennessee. Pyle died in Chattanooga, Tennessee on August 23, 1949; he was 63 years old.