Uncommon Autograph of Charlie Caldwell, College Football HoF Coach, in His Very Scarce Book.
Lot 437. Uncommon Autograph of Charlie Caldwell, College Football HoF Coach, in His Very Scarce Book. After compiling a 254-177-6 record while coaching football, baseball and basketball at Williams College, Caldwell took on a rebuilding challenge as head football coach at Princeton, his alma mater, in 1945. As a Princeton student, Caldwell had served as president of his class and earned seven varsity letters in football, baseball and track. From 1949-52, his Princeton teams finished among the top 20 in the Associated Press rankings. In 1950 and 1951, his undefeated Tigers were ranked among the nation’s best six teams and won the Lambert Trophy as the No. 1 team in the East. From Oct. 1949 to Oct. 1952, the Tigers won 30 of 31 games. In 1951, despite having only one starter return, they outscored opponents, 310-82. In 1950, the American Football Coaches Association voted Caldwell “Coach of the Year.” Caldwell also managed to pitch in three Major League baseball games for the New York Yankees. He was only 55 when he died of cancer in 1957. With a career football coaching record of 146-67-9, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1961. He was recognized as a proponent – and by some, as the originator, of the modern single wing, which he continued to use successfully after the game became dominated by T-formation and multiple offenses. He was also respected as a coach who believed that education was more important than football. In fact, in “Modern Single Wing Football,” his book offered here, Caldwell wrote that: “From my standpoint football players are first college undergraduates and then football players. Consequently, coaching methods, or perhaps the philosophy of coaching, must be part of the total educational process.” Rarely available, the book is a stated first-edition hardback published by J. B. Lippincott in 1951. It grades vg+ to near fine with very small areas of minor wear on the cover and uneven toning on the end pages. The dust jacket is g-vg. Caldwell’s autograph is nm 7. It is strong and would grade higher except for uneven toning on the page, creating a darker background for “Charlie” than for “Caldwell.” Winning Bid $100.
