Sutherland, Jock

Jock Sutherland, byname of John Bain Sutherland, (born March 21, 1889, Coupar Angus, Scot.—died April 11, 1948, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.), American collegiate and professional football coach who in a 24-year career had teams who won 144 games, lost 28, and tied 14. His University of Pittsburgh teams (1924–38) had four unbeaten seasons, produced 18 All-American players, won a national championship (1937) and played in four Rose Bowl games (1928, 1930, 1933, and 1937).

Raised in Scotland, where he played soccer, Sutherland came to Pittsburgh at the age of 18, and won a scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh dental school (D.D.S., 1918) after study at Oberlin (Ohio) Academy. At the university he played guard (1915–17) under the coaching of Pop Warner; the team won 25 consecutive games and went undefeated in 1916–17. Sutherland became a naturalized U.S. citizen and enlisted in the Army Reserve in 1917, coaching the Camp Greenleaf (Ga.) football team and playing on it. He was coach at Lafayette College (Easton, Pa., 1919–23) and became coach at Pittsburgh in 1924. His teams featured powerful, speedy single-wing formations running behind crushing blocks. In the 1930s Pittsburgh defeated Notre Dame in five games of seven played, after which Notre Dame dropped Pittsburgh from its schedule. He left Pittsburgh in 1938 and then coached the Brooklyn Dodgers (1940–41) and the National Football League (NFL) Pittsburgh Steelers (1946–47). He served in the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1942. His professional record was 28 games won, 16 lost, and 1 tied.

In addition to coaching, Sutherland taught dentistry at Pittsburgh (1919–38) and was a professor of physical education (1933–38).