The Legend of Pappy Waldorf

Cal moves up a spot to Number 2 on the NCAA football rankings, the highest the Bears have been since, my dad points out, the days of Pappy Waldorf. So who is Pappy Waldorf, and when were those Golden Days?

Pappy began his major college career as head football coach at Oklahoma A&M from 1929 to 1933. In his five seasons at Oklahoma A&M Waldorf went 34-10-7, won three Missourie Valley Conference championships, and never lost to arch-rival Oklahoma. In 1932, Waldorf was also promoted to Director of Athletics at the school. Nevertheless, in 1934, Waldorf was coaxed north to Kansas State, to replace Bo McMillin as football coach. Although Waldorf only coached K-State for one season, 1934, it was a remarkable year, as Kansas State captured the Big Six Conference championship – the first Big Six title in football for the school.

In 1935, Waldorf moved again, to Northwestern, where he would remain head coach until 1946. In his very first season at Northwestern, he was named college football's first national coach of the year. In his second season, he took Northwestern to the Big Ten Conference crown. His 12-year mark at Northwestern was 49-45-7. While at Northwestern, Waldorf also convinced future legend Otto Graham to try out for football.

As head football coach at Cal from 1947-1956 and where Pappy's life becomes interesting, he revived the program and established a 67-32-4 record. His teams were undefeated for three seasons, 1949-1951, winning three Pacific Coast Conference titles, and qualifying for three consecutive Rose Bowls. Waldorf also posted a 7-1-2 record against Stanford. After retiring from Cal in 1956, he joined the San Francisco 49ers head of personnel and scouting, remaining with the team until 1972.

Photo from the Cal website.