Dan McGugin coached at Vanderbilt thirty years in two terms, 1904-1917 and 1919-1934. In 1918 he served in the U.S. Army. His record was 197-55-19, earning him a place in the College Football Hall of Fame as a charter member in 1951. Fred Russell, the renowned football historian, summed up McGugin as: “sensationally successful, winning glorious intersectional victories… responsible, more than any other man, for southern football gaining national recognition.” McGugin was born July 29, 1879, in Tingley, Iowa. He played football one year at Drake University, then three years at Michigan in 1901-1903. McGugin was left guard on the Michigan team which played in the first Rose Bowl, January 1, 1902. He graduated from Michigan with a law degree and began coaching at Vanderbilt in 1904. For many years he coached during the football season and practiced law in the interim. His first Vanderbilt team in 1904 went 9-0 and outscored the opposition, 474-4, making them the national leader in scoring. McGugin coached four unbeaten teams and eleven teams which lost one game. His thirty teams outscored their opponents, 6673 -1668. He involved Vanderbilt in intersectional games with Harvard, Yale, Chicago, Michigan, and Ohio State. In 1922 Vanderbilt erected the first football stadium in the south. McGugin was an intense motivator, giving inspiring talks to his players. Some became great coaches, including “Red” Sanders, Jess Neely, Josh Cody, and Ray Morrison. Dan McGugin died January 19, 1936, at age fifty-six.
