American Football Database
Advertisement
Xen C. Scott
File:Xen Scott.jpg
Sport(s)Football, basketball, baseball
Biographical details
Born(1882-07-06)July 6, 1882
Pasadena, California
DiedApril 21, 1924(1924-04-21) (aged 41)
Cleveland, Ohio
Playing career
Position(s)End, quarterback
Head coaching record
Overall49–26–4 (football)
7–1 (men's basketball)
1–3–1 (women's basketball)
11–1 (baseball)

Xenophon Cole "Xen" Scott (July 6, 1882 – April 21, 1924) was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and a sportswriter. He served as the head football coach at Western Reserve University in 1910, at the Case School of Applied Science from 1911 to 1913—both Western Reserve and Case are now part of Case Western Reserve University—and at the University of Alabama from 1919 to 1922, compiling a career college football record of 49–26–4.

Born in Pasadena, California in 1882,[1] Scott moved to Cleveland, Ohio with his family when he was four.[2] He played college football as an end and quarterback at Western Reserve, from which he graduated in 1905, and then professionally with the Massillon Tigers.[3] Prior to being hired as head football coach, Scott was a horse-racing writer in Cleveland, Ohio.[4] He also contributed material to the Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide in 1907 and 1908. In 1907 he became an assistant coach at Western Reserve University in Cleveland.[5]

In 1910, Scott was hired to be head coach at the Nebraska State Normal School in Peru, Nebraska, where he also coached baseball and basketball.[6] He compiled a 29–9–3 (.744) record at Alabama. His first Tide team went 8–1 to set a school record for victories in a season; his second team did better, going 10–1 and finishing atop the standings of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Scott recruited Joe Sewell to Alabama and then sent him to the Cleveland Indians when Sewell's football days were over; Joe Sewell went to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Scott's Tide scored 110 points against Marion Institution in 1922, an Alabama football record which still stands today. In 1922 Scott's Tide beat Penn, 9–7, a shocking upset at the time and one which heralded the arrival of Alabama as a national football power. However, Scott did not get to enjoy his success; a case of cancer of the mouth and tongue forced his resignation after the 1922 season[7] and he died in 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio.[8][9]

Head coaching record[]

Football[]

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Western Reserve (Ohio Athletic Conference) (1910)
1910 Western Reserve 5–4 4–3 5th
Western Reserve: 5–4 4–3
Case (Ohio Athletic Conference) (1911–1913)
1911 Case 6–2–1 5–1–1 2nd
1912 Case 4–6 3–3 T–5th
1913 Case 5–5 3–3 T–7th
Case: 15–13–1 11–7–1
Alabama Crimson Tide (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1919–1921)
1919 Alabama 8–1 6–1 3rd
1920 Alabama 10–1 6–1 4th
1921 Alabama 5–4–2 2–4–2 18th
Alabama Crimson Tide (Southern Conference) (1922)
1922 Alabama 6–3–1 3–2–1 8th
Alabama: 29–9–3 17–8–3
Total: 49–26–4
Indicates BCS bowl, Bowl Alliance or Bowl Coalition game.

References[]

  1. Kordic, Gregory. A Damn Good Yankee: Xen Scott and the Rise of the Crimson Tide. 2007, AuthorHouse publishing. ISBN 978-1-4259-6018-6, p. 11
  2. Kordic, p. 11
  3. "Scott Named Football Coach". The Indiana Gazette (Indiana, Pennsylvania): p. 6. February 27, 1917. https://www.newspapers.com/image/10032492/. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  4. Groom, Winston. The Crimson Tide – An Illustrated History. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 2000. ISBN 0-8173-1051-7, pg. 30.
  5. Kordic, p. 22
  6. Kordic, p. 32–33
  7. Kordic, p. 158
  8. Kordic, p. 169
  9. "Xen Scott Dies in Cleveland". The Evening Review (East Liverpool, Ohio): p. 10. April 21, 1924. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9382942/the_evening_review/. Retrieved March 11, 2017.

External links[]

Advertisement