Hall of Fame
Today's college football coach would be at a loss without his
game films, those invaluable tools of the trade. Today's coach
might be interested to know that Carl Snavely was the first
coach to employ the use of films as a coaching device. Snavely
was at the helm of the Cornell football program when he first
decided to set up the projector in his den in Ithaca, New
York. He devoted hours to scanning the action, for Snavely
knew the camera would reveal flaws in a team's play that the
human eye would never detect. The Snavely coaching tour
included stays at Bucknell (1927-1933), North Carolina
(1934-1935, 1945-1952), Cornell (1936-1944) and
Washington University in St. Louis (1953-1958). Snavely's
record for 32 years was 180-96-16. His 1939 Cornell team
was unbeaten and won a classic 23-14 victory at Ohio State.
Snavely coached three remarkable players - Clark Hinkle at
Bucknell, Brud Holland at Cornell, and Charlie "Choo Choo"
Justice at North Carolina. He always taught the single-wing
formation. With Justice at North Carolina, he utilized the quick
kick, using the punt on second or third down. Then he added
a shift, when he needed short yardage, and drew opponents
offside. He was born July 30, 1894, in Omaha, the son of
Charles Snavely, a Methodist minister. He attended Lebanon
Valley College, where he was captain in football and
basketball and was on the debating team. For the period
1915-26 he coached at prep schools. Snavely was president
of the American Football Coaches Association in 1952. He
died July 12, 1975.
