Sam P. McBirney

Sam Pendleton McBirney (August 8, 1877 – January 20, 1936) was an American football coach and banker. He was the head football coach for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team in 1908 and from 1914 to 1916. His undefeated 1916 team outscored opponents 566 to 40 to become the highest scoring college football team during the 1916 college football season. He has been called "one of the fathers of football in Oklahoma."

Baseball and football player McBirney was an athlete who won a wide reputation as a baseball player. After playing for baseball teams in Columbus and Coffeyville in southeastern Kansas, McBirney moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1897 as the head of an independent baseball team.

While living in Tulsa, McBirney was also introduced to American football. McBirney played on a local football team that was described by an Oklahoma newspaper as "a rough-and-ready semi-pro team that met anybody, anywhere."

Banking career In the late 1890s, the McBirney brothers began working as bookkeepers for the Tulsa Banking Company. In 1904, after the Tulsa Banking Company was reorganized with majority control by individuals from outside Tulsa, Sam and James McBirney, along with two other investors, formed the Bank of Commerce (later known as the National Bank of Commerce) in Tulsa. His older brother served as the president of the bank. The bank grew into the largest bank in Tulsa,

Football coach 1908 season In 1907, Henry Kendall College (which later became the University of Tulsa) relocated from Muskogee, Oklahoma, to Tulsa. In 1908, McBirney volunteered to take time away from his duties at the bank to coach the school's football team. McBirney's 1908 football team played no intercollegiate games and played four of its five games against local high schools and the fifth game against the Outrigger Canoe Club from Hawaii. Though outscoring opponents 80 to 43, the 1908 team won 2 games and lost 3.

University of New Mexico McBirney was hired as the head football coach at the University of New Mexico in September 1909. After six weeks in Albuquerque, McBirnie returned to Tulsa. Hamilton H. Conwell and Hugh J. Collins assuming the coaching responsibilities for the final game of the season against New Mexico A&M.

1910 season In 1910, he returned to Kendall and coached the team to a 2–1–1 record.

Tulsa High School After the 1908 season, McBirney returned to his work at the bank. He developed a love of football and began coaching the Tulsa High School football team. His 1913 Tulsa High School team completed an undefeated season, won a mythical Oklahoma state championship, and defeated Henry Kendall College 27 to 6.

1914 and 1915 seasons In 1914, local businessmen urged McBirney to take over as the football coach at Kendall College. At the time, the college had an enrollment of approximately 100 students and had played only one intercollegiate football game between 1900 and 1912 (the bulk of its games were played against high school teams). Kendall's 1916 games included high-scoring wins against Missouri-Rolla (117–0), St. Gregory (82–0), Ozarks (81–0), and Haskell Institute (46–0). The 1916 team featured John Young, who had played for McBirney at Tulsa High School and who had been recruited by Fielding H. Yost to play for the University of Michigan, and Ivan Grove, who had played for Schmidt at Arkansas City High School and became the top scoring player in college football in 1916 with 196 points.

The 1916 team gained renown for its short passing offense and for the deceptive and unique play calling of McBirney and Schmidt. In one game, Ivan Grove completed 12 consecutive passes on a single scoring drive. In another game, the team successfully executed a play the called the "tower play." Ivan Grove threw a pass to Vergil Jones as he sat on the shoulders of Puny Blevins. The play resulted in a touchdown and was declared illegal the following year. and was the first time that the Sooners were beaten in football by another school from Oklahoma.

After the 1916 season, McBirney retired as Kendall's football coach to devote his full-time to the bank. McBirney had hand-picked Francis Schmidt as his successor, but Schmidt enlisted in the U.S. Army after the United States entered World War I in April 1917. After two years of military service, Schmidt led the team to back-to-back undefeated seasons in 1919 and 1920 before moving on to a successful coaching career with Arkansas, TCU, and Ohio State.

Inspirational director for Oklahoma Sooners Although McBirney retired from coaching, he later assisted the Oklahoma Sooners' head football coach Bennie Owen as an "inspirational" director before key games.

McBirney married Nettie in 1913. The couple had four children: Susan Bush, Williams, Samuel, and Mary Megan Bryan.

Death After a long illness, McBirney died at his home in Tulsa in January 1936 at age 58. At the time of his death, the Associated Press called him "one of the fathers of football in Oklahoma."

Head coaching record College