Sam Lyle

Melvin E. "Sam" Lyle (June 18, 1924 – May 25, 2007) was an American football player, coach, and the founder of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award.

Sam Lyle
No. 33
Born:(1924-06-18)June 18, 1924
Died:May 25, 2007(2007-05-25) (aged 82)
Atlanta, Georgia
Career information
Position(s)E
CollegeLSU
NFL draft1950 / Round: 10 / Pick: 120
Drafted byNew York Bulldogs
Career history
As coach
1951–1953Georgia Tech (ends)
1954–1957Oklahoma (assistant)
1958Edmonton Eskimos
1959Florida (assistant)
1960South Carolina (assistant HC)

Playing career

Lyle played end at Louisiana State University from 1947 to 1949. He was the captain of the LSU Tigers team that played in the 1950 Sugar Bowl.[1] He was drafted by the New York Bulldogs in the tenth round of the 1950 NFL Draft.[2]

Coaching career

Lyle began his coaching career in 1951 as the ends coach at Georgia Tech under Bobby Dodd.[3] He was an assistant on the Yellow Jacket teams that won the 1952 Orange Bowl and the 1953 and 1954 Sugar Bowls. In 1954, he moved to Oklahoma, where he was an assistant under future College Football Hall of Famer Bud Wilkinson.[4] In his second and third seasons at Oklahoma, the Sooners won the College football national championship.

In 1958, Lyle succeeded another former Oklahoma assistant, Pop Ivy, as head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos. He resigned after only one season and returned to college football as an assistant at Florida.[5]

Bobby Dodd Award

In 1976, Lyle created the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award.[6] The award, named after former Georgia Tech coach Bobby Dodd, is an awarded annually to the college football head coach whose team excels on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. Lyle also served as the chairman of the executive committee of the American Sportsmanship Council, the group who sponsored the Bobby Dodd Award.[7]

Death

Lyle died of kidney failure on May 25, 2007 in Atlanta.[8]

References
  1. Gettysburg Times. August 16, 1951 https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=taElAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nfwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1960,926986&dq. Retrieved 2010-10-11. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. "LSU Tigers in Professional Football Drafts".
  3. Gettysburg Times. August 16, 1951 https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=taElAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nfwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1960,926986&dq. Retrieved 2010-10-11. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. "Lyle Joins Wilkerson". AP. March 30, 1954. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  5. "New Mission For Gator 3rd Team". AP. September 1, 1959. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  6. "SANDY SPRINGS: Sam Lyle, creator of award for college football coaches". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. May 30, 2007.
  7. "Edwards 'Bobby Dodd Coach of Year'". AP. December 16, 1979. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  8. "SANDY SPRINGS: Sam Lyle, creator of award for college football coaches". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. May 30, 2007.
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