William F . Knox William F . " Billy " Knox ( January 29 , 1885 – December 21 , 1975 ) was an American football player and coach and lawyer . He played college football for Yale University and was selected as a first - team All - America n halfback in 1906 . He was the head coach of the 1907 Yale football team which finished the season with a record of 9 – 0 – 1 . He later became an attorney and was a founder and member of the Pittsburgh law firm of Moorhead & Knox . Early years . Knox was born in Connellsville , Pennsylvania in 1885 . His father Alfred C . Knox was a Pennsylvania native and a banker . His mother Annie E . Knox was also a Pennsylvania native . At the time of the 1900 United States Census , Knox was living in Ben Avon , a suburb of Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , with his parents and three sisters , Louise , Juliet , and Mary . His uncle was Philander C . Knox , who served as the United States Attorney General ( 1901 – 1904 ) , United States Senator ( 1904 – 1909 , 1917 – 1921 ) , and United States Secretary of State ( 1909 – 1913 ) . Yale and University of Pittsburgh . Knox enrolled at Yale University . While attending Yale , he played for the Yale Bulldogs football team and was selected as a first - team All - American halfback in 1906 . After graduating from Yale , he returned in the fall of 1907 as Yale ' s head football coach . Knox led the 1907 Yale football team to an undefeated season with a record of 9 – 0 – 1 . The team ' s only setback was a 0 – 0 tie against Army . During the period from 1899 to 1912 , Yale had 14 different head football coaches in 14 years – despite compiling a combined record of 127 – 11 – 10 in those years . During that 14 - year span , the Yale football team has also been recognized as the national championship team by one or more of the major national championship selectors on seven occasions – 1900 ( Billingsley , Helms , Houlgate , National Championship Foundation , Parke Davis ) , 1901 ( Parke Davis ) , 1902 ( Parke Davis ) , 1905 ( Parke Davis , Whitney ) , 1906 ( Billingsley , Parke Davis , Whitney ) , 1907 ( Billingsley , Helms , Houlgate , National Championship Foundation , Parke Davis , Whitney ) , and 1909 ( Billingsley , Helms , Houlgate , National Championship Foundation , Parke Davis ) . Knox later attended the University of Pittsburgh law school from which he graduated in 1910 . At the time of the 1910 United States Census , Knox was living with his parents and three sisters at the family home on Brighton Road in Ben Avon . Legal career and family . After graduating from law school , Knox had a long career as a lawyer in Pittsburgh . In 1917 , he formed a law partnership with William S . Moorhead , who later served as a U . S . Congressman from 1959 to 1981 . Their firm , Moorhead and Knox , became a prestigious Pittsburgh law firm . Knox remained active in the firm until his retirement in 1973 . At the time of the 1920 United States Census , Knox was living with his wife , Ruth T . Knox , and son , William F . Knox , Jr . , at 6923 Brighton Road in Ben Avon , Pennsylvania . The family also had a live - in maid , Mary Kramer . At the time of the 1930 United States Census , Knox was living in Pittsburgh with his wife , Ruth , and their two sons , William F . Knox , Jr . , and James Knox . Knox ' s son , William F . Knox , enrolled at Yale in 1936 . He died at age 19 when he fell almost 200 feet to his death while climbing a train trestle over Manhasset Bay at daybreak . In a draft registration card completed in 1942 , Knox indicated that he was living at 8 Robin Road in Pittsburgh and that he was a member of the firm of Moorhead & Knox with offices in the Oliver Building in Pittsburgh . Knox also served on the board of directors of National Union Fire Insurance Co . and the Duqesne Slag Co . Knox died at the Shadyside Hospital in Pittsburgh in December 1975 at age 90 .