Bud Saunders

Not to be confused with Bill Saunders or William B. Saunders.

William Howard "Bud" Saunders (May 1, 1884 – June 1967) was an American football player, coach of football and basketball, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at William Jewell College in 1911, at Haskell Institute—now Haskell Indian Nations University—from 1918 to 1919, at Grinnell College from 1920 to 1921, and at Clemson University from 1923 to 1926. Saunders was the head basketball coach at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois during the 1922–23 season and at Clemson from 1923 to 1925, compiling a career college basketball coaching record of 20–40. He also served as the athletic director at Clemson from 1923 to 1926.

Bud Saunders

Saunders at Clemson in 1923
Biographical details
Born	(1884-05-01)May 1, 1884 St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S.
Died	1967(1967-00-00) (aged 82–83)
Playing career
Football
1909	Missouri
Baseball
1910–1911	Missouri
Position(s)	Quarterback (football)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1911	William Jewell
1914	Missouri Mines (assistant)
1918–1919	Haskell
1920–1921	Grinnell
1922	Knox (IL) (assistant)
1923–1926	Clemson
Basketball
1922–1923	Knox (IL)
1923–1925	Clemson
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1923–1926	Clemson
Head coaching record
Overall	26–34–8 (football) 20–40 (basketball)

Early life and college career

Saunders pictured as a senior in Savitar 1911, Missouri yearbook

A native of St. Joseph, Missouri,^[1] Saunders graduated from the University of Missouri in 1911, in the field of law. He played football there as a quarterback on William Roper's 1909 team.^[2] He was also a member of Phi Delta Theta during his time at Missouri.^[3][4]

Coaching career

Saunders began his coaching career in William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri when he took charge of the football team in October 1911. He had been slated to coach football at Missouri Valley College that year, but the school disbanded their football team.^[5] Saunders served briefly as a football coach at Knox College previous to his stint at Clemson.^[6]

Head coaching record

Football

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs
William Jewell Baptists (Independent) (1911)
1911	William Jewell	2–3–5
William Jewell:		2–3–5
Haskell Indians (Independent) (1918–1919)
1918	Haskell	1–4
1919	Haskell	8–2–1
Haskell:		9–6–1
Grinnell Pioneers (Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1920–1921)
1920	Grinnell	3–3–1	0–2–1	7th
1921	Grinnell	2–5	0–4	9th
Grinnell:		5–8–1	0–6–1
Clemson Tigers (Southern Conference) (1923–1926)
1923	Clemson	5–2–1	1–1–1	T–11th
1924	Clemson	2–6	0–3	T–19th
1925	Clemson	1–7	0–4	T–20th
1926	Clemson	2–2[n 1]	1–1[n 1]	[n 1]
Clemson:		10–17–1	2–9–1
Total:		26–34–8

Notes

1. Saunders resigned after the first four games of the 1926 season. Bob Williams, who had previously served as Clemson's head coach in 1906, 1909, and from 1913 to 1915, led the team for the final five games of the season. Clemson finished with an overall record of 2–7 and a conference mark of 1–3, placing 18th in the Southern Conference.