A Forgotten First National Championship: The 1914 Army Football Team

See how the Army college football team was able to win all nine games during the 1914 season. Army decisively played and defeated teams from Rutgers, Colgate, Villanova, Notre Dame, Navy and others. The team was later named by the NCAA as one of three national college football champions for 1914. Bradley, Van Fleet, Stilwell and thirty other players and coaches later became General officers and fought in three major wars. Six players and coaches were later named to the National Football Foundation's Hall of Fame, including Tennessee's head football coach Bob Neyland and all-around athlete Ollie Oliphant.
The United States Military Academy at West Point (Army) had played college football since 1890, and never had an undefeated until its 25th season in 1914. Over 200 out of 600 Cadets turned out in early September for the football team, and Head Coach Charlie Daly selected sixty for the team. Between six days of classes, military drills and parades, and the dangers of learning to ride horses (a major cause of season-ending injuries), the Cadets practiced one or two hours late each day in order to play on Saturdays. This team won nine straight games, including handily defeating a Notre Dame team that had beat them 35-13 the season before and becoming the first favored team to win the Army-Navy game since 1905.
Follow how Army football started and the day to day activities of the 1914 season. See what happened to the 83 coaches and players after they hung up their cleats and became Army Officers, coaches, and presidents of companies and of the USA (Eisenhower was a Cadet coach during the 1914 season and spent his early military career coaching military football squads). They married and had families, some were killed or died on active duty, some lost loved ones early, and many achieved some remarkable accomplishments.