George Sweetland

George James Sweetland (August 5, 1872 – March 29, 1954) was an American physician as well as a coach of many sports including basketball, track and field and football at several universities.

Early life Sweetland was born in Dryden, New York on August 5, 1872. He was the fifth child of George James and Hannah Marsh Sweetland.

He graduated from Dryden Academy, and went on to attend Union College in Schenectady, New York. At Hobart he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity as well as earning a letter in football in 1896. Over the next few years Sweetland gained addition education and advanced degrees. He received a master's degree at Chautauqua School of Physical Education in Chautauqua, New York and graduated from the Grand Rapids Medical College—now part of the University of Michigan Medical School. After the war he finished his medical training and started his coaching career.

Sweetland served as the head football coach at Iowa State Normal School—now known as the University of Northern Iowa—in 1899.

In 1901 he took over the coaching duties at Ishpeming High School in Ishpeming, Michigan. He took over a team that had just won the state championship. He continued the school's winning ways by coaching Ishpeming to the state championship in 1901 and 1902. In his first season his team was declared the best team in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and was invited to play in the Michigan's State Championship Game sponsored by State Athletic Committee and the Interscholastic Department of the University Athletic Association. His team faced Kalamazoo High School, the Lower Peninsula champion, who outweighed Ishpeming by 30 pounds a man. Ishpeming won by a score of 27–21. Earlier in the season one of Benton Harbor's coaches received special access to Sweetland's team by claiming to be a reporter from the Milwaukee Sentinel. Sweetland got wind of the deception and let it continue. When his team played Benton Harbor in the state championship, Sweetland had totally changed his formations and attack. This confused his opponent and allowed Ishpeming to take an early lead from which Benton Harbor could not recover. After watching Ishpeming victory over Benton Harbor, University of Michigan head coach Fielding H. Yost called Sweetland's team the "finest [High] School team he ever saw." Sweetland later credited Ishpeming's success to the "superb physical condition" of his players from working long hours in the mines during the summer and many hours of practice. His football team won three state titles.

In 1908 Sweetland moved to the Pacific Northwest to pursue his interest in fruit tree cultivation. He coached the football team from 1909 to 1913 for a combined record of 20 wins and 4 losses. Throughout his tenure as coach he consistently won even with smaller and less talented players. Many times his team were smaller than high school team in the area. By end of tenure at Willamette, there was a lot of speculation that he would be hired away by larger colleges in the Pacific Northwest including the University of Washington and the University of Oregon. In the local paper in the city that the University of Oregon was located said that "...If Oregon does not drop her petty feud and secure the services of the doctor, she will have missed one of her golden opportunities."

After coaching Sweetland abandoned his coaching career in 1916 due to the death of his brother Dr. John J. Sweetland who was killed in a car accident. He left his position at Hobart moved to Constantine, Michigan to take over the medical practice of his brother.

Family While at University of North Dakota, Sweetland met Mildred Mark and the couple were married in 1906 in Hood River, Oregon. They had three children. The oldest, Monroe Sweetland, was a Democratic National Committee member for Oregon and a member of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. The middle child, Ada, attended college in New York and Chicago and the youngest, George Jr., died of infantile paralysis at age 18.

Head coaching record College football