Roper in 1909
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Sport(s) | Football, basketball, baseball |
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Biographical details | |
Born |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
August 22, 1880
Died | December 19, 1933 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
(aged 53)
Playing career | |
1899–1902 | Princeton |
Position(s) |
End (football) Outfielder (baseball) |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
Football | |
1903–1904 | VMI |
1906–1908 | Princeton |
1909 | Missouri |
1910–1911 | Princeton |
1915–1916 | Swarthmore |
1919–1930 | Princeton |
Basketball | |
1902–1903 | Princeton |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 112–38–18 (football) 8–7 (basketball) |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
Football 4 National (1906, 1911, 1920, 1922) 1 MVC (1909) |
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College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1951 (profile) |
William Winston "Bill" Roper (August 22, 1880 – December 10, 1933) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the Virginia Military Institute (1903–1904), Princeton University (1906–1908, 1910–1911, 1919–1930), the University of Missouri (1909), and Swarthmore College (1915–1916), compiling a career college football record of 112–38–18. Roper's Princeton Tigers football teams of 1906, 1911, 1920, and 1922 have been recognized as national champions. His 89 wins are the most of any coach in the history of the program. Roper was also the head basketball coach at Princeton for one season in 1902–03, tallying a mark of 8–7. Roper played football as an end, basketball, and baseball as an outfielder at Princeton, from which he graduated in 1902. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1951.
Roper served on the NCAA Football Rules Committee.
Roper was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 22, 1880. He attended the William Penn Charter School where he played football, basketball, and baseball. He continued all three sports in college at Princeton University.
Roper was the sixth head football coach for the Virginia Military Institute Keydets located in Lexington, Virginia and he held that position for two seasons, from 1903 until 1904. His coaching record at VMI was 5–6.