Despite small sample-size...Jock Sutherland HOVG?

[74_75_78_79_]

Yes, only 4 seasons total as an NFL head coach. Two years per stint.

He takes over the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1940 who’ve been struggling for years and immediately turns them into a good team at 8-3, finishing just one game behind Washington whom they split with as well. The following year they also finish one game out, sweeping division-winner Giants albeit the second win being in the finale. He leaves the following year to serve in the War and Brooklyn immediately suffers losing seasons the rest of their existence. My guess is that many of Brooklyn’s players enlisted as well, but still quite a turnaround considering their struggles beforehand in the ’30s.

In his return from service, 1946, he takes over a Steelers team that won only two games the previous year (just two years removed from Card-Pitt) and puts them in the very thick of the division race all season before barely losing their last two, each to the two teams (NYG, Phi) that finished just above them. #1 defense in the league as well! Then came the following year which, of course, would be the Steelers’ only playoff berth ever in their first 39 seasons of existence. Sadly that tragedy took place in the off-season. What could have been...

Yes just four seasons, but at the very least worth a mention.

[JuggernautJ]

My Dad would have approved!
He was 16 in 1946 (Munhall, Pa High School) and even into his 80's he would reflect sadly on the loss of Sutherland, the best Steelers coach of his youth.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... uthJo0.htm

Sutherland is in the College Football Hall of Fame for his time at Pitt:
"During his tenure, Sutherland's teams were named Eastern football champions seven times including 1925, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1934, 1936, and 1937. During this time, Pitt appeared in four Rose Bowl games (1928, 1930, 1933, and 1937) and turned down a bid for the 1938 Rose Bowl. Sutherland's teams were named "National Champions" by various selectors for nine different seasons including 1925, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, and 1938. Of these, the University of Pittsburgh officially recognizes five of those years as national championship seasons (1929, 1931, 1934, 1936, and 1937), while one of them, 1937, includes the Associated Press national championship designation..."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jock_Sutherland

[Bryan]

Yes, only 4 seasons total as an NFL head coach. Two years per stint.

He takes over the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1940 who’ve been struggling for years and immediately turns them into a good team at 8-3, finishing just one game behind Washington whom they split with as well. The following year they also finish one game out, sweeping division-winner Giants albeit the second win being in the finale. He leaves the following year to serve in the War and Brooklyn immediately suffers losing seasons the rest of their existence. My guess is that many of Brooklyn’s players enlisted as well, but still quite a turnaround considering their struggles beforehand in the ’30s.

In his return from service, 1946, he takes over a Steelers team that won only two games the previous year (just two years removed from Card-Pitt) and puts them in the very thick of the division race all season before barely losing their last two, each to the two teams (NYG, Phi) that finished just above them. #1 defense in the league as well! Then came the following year which, of course, would be the Steelers’ only playoff berth ever in their first 39 seasons of existence. Sadly that tragedy took place in the off-season. What could have been...

Yes just four seasons, but at the very least worth a mention.

Sutherland is an interesting part of history. The great Pitt (and Minnesota) programs of the 30's and 40's have been forgotten in college football annals. As you said, Sutherland did turnaround two franchises that had been losers. The 1939 Dodgers were 9th in defense with 219 points allowed out of 10 teams. Sutherland arrives in 1940, and the Dodgers have the best defense in the NFL, giving up nearly 100 fewer points (120). He did virtually the same thing with the Steelers, improving the defense from 8th/220 pts to 1st/117 pts. It would be interesting to know if Sutherland did anything exotic defensively from a strategy standpoint.

That said, I wouldn't put him into the HOVG...too many other coaches with more accomplishments. Perhaps if Sutherland was such an innovator that in his 4 years he changed the strategic landscape of the NFL, but he was kind of the opposite. I remember reading something about how no one enjoyed the Single Wing...the Steeler players, the opponents, it was miserable for everyone. It would have been interesting to see how/if Sutherland adapted to the major strategic passing shift of the late 40's-early 50's.

[sluggermatt15]

I agree with Bryan. I think Sutherland was a remarkable college coach and his accomplishments in his short NFL stints were impressive. Though there is not enough evidence for him to be a HOVG candidate. If he had been a long-term coach then I think he is on the list.