Wally Butts

James Wallace "Wally" Butts, Jr. (February 7, 1905 – December 17, 1973) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at the University of Georgia from 1939 to 1960, compiling a record of 140–86–9. His Georgia Bulldogs football teams won a national championships in 1942 and four Southeastern Conference titles (1942, 1946, 1948, 1959). Butts was also the athletic director at Georgia from 1939 to 1963. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1997.

Playing career

Butts was a 1929 graduate of Mercer University where he played college football under coach Bernie Moore, and was an alumnus of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity.

Coaching career

Butts came to the University of Georgia as an assistant to Joel Hunt in 1938. Hunt left after a 5–4–1 season to take over at the University of Wyoming and Butts was elevated to the position of head coach, which he held for 22 seasons through 1960. Butts also served as Georgia's athletic director from 1939 until 1963.