Boozer Pitts

John Emmett "Boozer" Pitts Sr. (November 25, 1893 – February 10, 1971)[1] was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Auburn University from 1923 to 1924 and again for the final seven games of the 1927 season, compiling a career record of 7–11–6. He was also a professor of mathematics at Auburn in the 1930s.

Boozer Pitts
Pitts pictured in The 1925 Glomerata, Auburn yearbook
Biographical details
Born(1893-11-25)November 25, 1893
Pittsview, Alabama
DiedFebruary 10, 1971(1971-02-10) (aged 77)
Auburn, Alabama
Playing career
1913–1914Auburn
Position(s)Center
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1919–1922Auburn (assistant)
1923–1924Auburn
1925–1927Auburn (assistant)
1927Auburn
Head coaching record
Overall7–11–6

Playing career

A native of Pittsview, Alabama, Pitts was a prominent center for coach Mike Donahue's Auburn Tigers football team in 1913 and 1914. He entered Auburn at the age of 15, having only read about football.[2] Pitts was selected All-Southern and was a member of an All-time Auburn Tigers football team selected in 1935,[3] as well as coach Donahue's all-time Auburn team.[4] One writer claims "Auburn had a lot of great football teams, but there may not have been one greater than the 1913–1914 team."[5] Pitts weighed some 190 pounds.

Army

Pitts later served as a colonel in the United States Army during World War II. In late 1958, he had his larynx removed during surgery for cancer.[6] One of his sons, John E. Pitts, Jr. was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force.[6][7]

Head coaching record
Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Auburn Tigers (Southern Conference) (1923–1924)
1923 Auburn 3–3–30–1–314th
1924 Auburn 4–4–12–4–117th
Auburn Tigers (Southern Conference) (1927)
1927 Auburn 0–4–2[n 1]0–4–1[n 1]22nd[n 1]
Auburn: 7–11–62–9–5
Total:7–11–6
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See also

Selected works
  • Pitts, John E. (1968). Thoughts of a Man Called Boozer. Carlton Press.

Notes
  1. Dave Morey coached the first three games of the season.

References
  1. Thomas, B.W. (2003). Baron Christopher de Graffenried V: his ancestors and his descendants, 1191 to 2001. Willo Pub. Co. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  2. M. J. Donahue (December 14, 1914). "Mike Donahue Praises Departing Stars". The Tennessean. p. 9. Retrieved October 20, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Tulane University Football Program-The Greenie; Auburn vs. Tulane". Archived from the original on December 23, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  4. "Mike Donahue Names All-Time Auburn Football Team". The Tuscaloosa News. January 10, 1933.
  5. Ethan Brady. "Auburn's 1913 Undefeated Team" (PDF).
  6. "He Can't Talk Or Eat Food, But 'Boozer' Writes Poems", The Morning Herald, Thursday, December 31, 1959, Hagerstown, Maryland
  7. "Pitts, John Emmett". west-point.org. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
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