page_title: Pop Warner
section_title: Pittsburgh
hierarchical_section_title: Pop Warner / Coaching career / Pittsburgh
caption_attribution_description: English: Pitt's Tommy Davies runs during the 1918 game against Georgia Tech. Pitt beat the undefeated and unscored upon Tech team and claimed that season's national championship.
context_page_description: Glenn Scobey Warner, most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his innovations are the single and double wing formations, the three point stance and the body blocking technique. Fellow pioneer coach Amos Alonzo Stagg called Warner "one of the excellent creators". He was inducted as a coach into the College Football Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class in 1951. He also contributed to a junior football program which became known as Pop Warner Little Scholars, a popular youth American football organization.
  In the early 1900s, he created a premier football program at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School—a federally-funded, off-reservation Indian boarding school. He also coached teams to four national championships: Pittsburgh in 1915, 1916, and 1918 and Stanford in 1926. In all, he was head coach at the University of Georgia, Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Cornell University, Carlisle, Pittsburgh, Stanford and Temple University, compiling a career college football record of 319–106–32.
context_section_description: When Warner arrived at the University of Pittsburgh in 1915, the 128-year-old school was on a new campus with 3,900 students. He inherited a team in  good shape, full of future All-Americans, and coached the Pittsburgh Panthers to their first undefeated season. Six of their eight games (all shutouts) were played at home on Forbes Field, including a 45–0 victory over Carlisle. Warner coached his Pitt teams to 29 straight victories, and is credited with three national championships (1915, 1916 and 1918). Coaching Pittsburgh from 1915 to 1923, he compiled a 60–12–4 record.
  Although the 1915 season was a success, the next year's team was one of the greatest of Warner's career. The Panthers were again undefeated and, like the previous year, six of the eight games were shutouts. Thirty-two of their 35 players were from Western Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. The team scored 255 points, conceding 25. Warner considered the team an improvement because its defense was more dominant than the previous year's. The Panthers were the consensus national champions, and Warner became recognized as one of football's greatest coaches.
  In 1917 the United States entered World War I, and some players (including Andy Hastings and Jimmy Dehart) entered military service. Pittsburgh played an undefeated full season despite the war, although it was not awarded the national championship. Although the team lacked the previous year's punch, it dominated the opposition. A key aspect of its success was the opposing coaches' inability to address Warner's evolving strategies; according to Powers, "His reverse plays were a mystery, although Pop always was willing to explain them in detail to any other coach".
  Faculties had to step in to stop a decisive, postseason national championship game with John Heisman's undefeated Georgia Tech team. The game was postponed until the following season, giving Tech the 1917 national championship (the first for any Southern school). On November 23, 1918 the two teams played at Pittsburgh. At the stadium where the game was to be played, the locker rooms were next to each other, with only a thin wall separating the two teams prior to the game. Heisman was first to begin an inspirational speech and it was said that he passionately described both heroes of Ancient Greece as well as the tragedy of a soldier found in his armor among the ruins of Pompeii. Because of Georgia Tech's players silence the speech was crystal clear on the other side of the wall. Upon its finish Warner smiled and quietly told his players "Okay, boys. There's the speech. Now go out and knock them off." Pittsburgh defeated Georgia Tech 32–0.
  The 1918 season was cut short at the end of November due to the continuing effects of World War I and the influenza pandemic. Only five games were played, and the season's final game was in Cleveland against the Naval Reserve. Warner's first loss at Pitt, it was one of the most controversial games in school history. According to Warner and several reporters covering the game, Pitt was robbed by the officials. The referees said that the timekeeper's watch was broken, ended the first half before Pitt was able to score and allowed the Reserves extra time in the fourth quarter to pull ahead, 10–9. Although he refused to acknowledge the loss, Warner's 29-game winning streak came to an end. Moon Ducote kicked the 41-yard, game-winning field goal for the Naval Reserve, and Warner called him "the greatest football player I ever saw". Despite the loss, a number of selectors named the 4–1 1918 Panthers national champion. The team was led by freshman running back Tom Davies, who averaged 150 yards per game over his four-year career.
  The 1919 season began with high expectations; World War I was over, and key players had returned from service. However, things did not go Warner's way; at the beginning of the season, problems with the offensive line and on the flanks became apparent. Their first defeat was at Syracuse, where the Orangemen won 20–3. The 1919 Panthers had six wins, two losses and one tie.
  They were undefeated in 1920,
caption: Tom Davies runs vs. Georgia Tech, 1918.
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