Jim Tatum, coach of the powerful University of Maryland football team, got a laugh from the fans when he publicly and in dead seriousness accused the very proper members of the Ivy League of recruiting- not big well-muscled footballers, but honor students!
The incident recalls a remark once made by the gloomy but capable Gilmour Dobie when he first came to coach football at Cornell in 1920. Dobie had been coaching at the University of Washington and at Annapolis where he had turned out a series of powerhouses that made phenomenal records.
Dobie stepped out of Lower Alumni Field for the first day of practice, and the Big Red,candidates came pouring out of the locker rooms under Schoellkopf Field. The dour Scot took one look at the young hopefuls bearing down on him and let out a groan of despair.
“My gracious,” he exclaimed. “I’ve got nothing but students!”