Buddy Sasser
Biographical details
Born	Conway, South Carolina, U.S.
Playing career
1955–1956	North Carolina

Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1963–1970	Conway HS (SC)
1972–1976	Appalachian State (assistant)
1977–1982	Wofford
1983–1984	East Tennessee State

Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1963–1970	Conway HS (SC)
1972–1977	Appalachian State (assistant AD)
1977–1982	Wofford
1985–1986	East Tennessee State
1986–1989	Coastal Carolina
1989–1996	Big South (commissioner)
1996–1999	Coastal Carolina

Head coaching record
Overall	45–39–3 (college) 66–17–5 (high school)

George F. "Buddy" Sasser is a former American football coach and athletics administrator. As commissioner of the Big South Conference between 1989 and 1996, Sasser was responsible for increasing membership, gaining automatic bids to the NCAA basketball tournament and adding basketball television exposure for the conference.

Biography

Born in Conway, South Carolina, Sasser played college football for the University of North Carolina Tarheels earning two letters, the last in 1956. Sasser served as athletic director and head football coach at Conway High School from 1963 to 1970, leading the Tigers to a 66–17–5 record. He was assistant football coach and assistant athletic director at Appalachian State University from 1972 until 1977, and was athletic director and head football coach from 1977 until 1982 at Wofford College. He served as Coastal Carolina University's athletic director from 1986 until 1989 and again from 1996 until 1999.

Honors and awards

In 1982, Sasser was named Kodak Coach of the Year for the college division.^[1] He was inducted, along with three other Coastal Carolina University athletic administrators and student athletes, in the inaugural class of the Big South Conference Hall of Fame.

Each year, the George F. "Buddy" Sasser Cup Trophy (named for him in 2000)^[2] is awarded to the Big South member institution that has the most successful year in athletics.^[3] Coastal Carolina University's Athletic Hall of Fame was named in honor of Sasser on June 4, 2003.^[1]

Head coaching record

College


Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing
Wofford Terriers (NAIA Division I independent) (1977–1982)
1977	Wofford	7–3–1
1978	Wofford	3–8
1979	Wofford	5–5
1980	Wofford	7–2–2
1981	Wofford	6–5
1982	Wofford	8–3
Wofford:		36–26–3
East Tennessee State Buccaneers (Southern Conference) (1983–1984)
1983	East Tennessee State	3–8	1–6	T–7th
1984	East Tennessee State	6–5	2–4	T–5th
East Tennessee State:		9–13	3–10
Total:		45–39–3

References

^ ^a ^b Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Archived January 29, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Sasser Hall of Fame Members, 2010
^ 2009 Track Guide Archived July 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, UNC Asheville (pdf)
^ "Liberty University Leads Sasser Cup Race", Big South Conference, December 2, 2009

Links to related articles

v t e Wofford Terriers athletic directors
Leslie Moser (1916–1918) Rip Major (1921–?) Tommy Scaffe (1927–1933) Jules Carson (1934–1942) Ted Petoskey (1942–?) Phil Dickens (1947–1952) Conley Snidow (1953–1971) Jack Peterson (1971–1973) Gene Alexander (1974–1976) Buddy Sasser (1977–1982) Bill Parker (1983–1984) Danny Morrison (1985–1997) David S. Wood (1997–2001) Richard Johnson (2001– )

Wofford Terriers head football coaches

Edwin Kerrison (1889)
No coach (1890)
No team (1891–1892)
No coach (1893–1894)
Bill Wertenbaker (1895)
No coach (1896)
No team (1897–1899)
No coach (1900)
J. Norman Walker (1901)
No team (1902–1913)
Curtis McCoy (1914)
Harvey Hester (1915)
Leslie Moser (1916–1917)
Bernard Peters (1918)
Rip Major (1919)
John F. Gorsuch (1920)
Johnny Gilroy (1921)
Rip Major (1922–1926)
Tommy Scaffe (1927–1933)
Jules Carson (1934–1941)
Ted Petoskey (1942)
No team (1943–1945)
Ted Petoskey (1946)
Phil Dickens (1947–1952)
Conley Snidow (1953–1966)
Jim Brakefield (1967–1970)
Jack Peterson (1971–1973)
Steve Satterfield (1974–1976)
Buddy Sasser (1977–1982)
Bill Parker (1983–1984)
Rick Gilstrap (1985–1987)
Mike Ayers (1988–2017)
Josh Conklin (2018–2022)
Shawn Watson (2022– )

East Tennessee State Buccaneers head football coaches

William R. Windes (1920–1921)
James Karl Luck (1922–1924)
John Robinson (1925–1929)
Jack S. Batey (1930–1931)
Gene McMurray (1932–1941)
No team (1942–1945)
Gene McMurray (1946)
Loyd Roberts (1947–1951)
Star Wood (1952–1953)
Hal Littleford (1954)
Star Wood (1955–1965)
John Robert Bell (1966–1972)
Roy Frazier (1973–1977)
Jack Carlisle (1978–1982)
Buddy Sasser (1983–1984)
Mike Ayers (1985–1987)
Don Riley (1988–1991)
Mike Cavan (1992–1996)
Paul Hamilton (1997–2003)
No team (2004–2014)
Carl Torbush (2015–2017)
Randy Sanders (2018–2021)
George Quarles (2022–2023)
Tre Lamb (2024– )

East Tennessee State Buccaneers athletic directors

Loyd Roberts (1947–1953)
Star Wood (1954–1962)
Sidney W. Rice (1962–1966)
John Robert Bell (1966–1973)
Madison Brooks (1973–1980)
Bill McCarthy (1980–1981)
Doug Messer (1981–1983)
Barry Dowd (1983–1985)
Buddy Sasser (1985–1986)
Les Robinson (1986–1990)
Janice Shelton (1990–1995)
Keener Fry (1995–1998)
Frank Pergolizzi (1998–2000)
Todd Stansbury (2000–2003)
Dave Mullins (2003–2013)
Dick Sander (2013–2017)
Scott Carter (2017– )

v t e Coastal Carolina Chanticleers athletic directors
Unknown (–1986) Buddy Sasser (1986–1989) Unknown (1989–1996) Buddy Sasser (1996–1999) Warren Koegel (2000–2010) Hunter Yurachek (2010–2014) Matt Hogue (2014– )