| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 8, 1901 Aberdeen, Scotland |
| Died | December 31, 1974 (aged 73) Akron, Ohio, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| c. 1920 | Carnegie Tech |
| 1924–1925 | Akron Pros |
| Position(s) | Fullback, halfback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1933 | Geneva |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 7–3 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1 Tri-State (1933) | |
James A. Robertson (March 8, 1901 – December 31, 1974) was an American football player and coach.
After playing high school football in Allegheny, Pennsylvania,[1] Robertson was expected to go to West Point.[2] Instead, he went on to college and played college football at Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (now called Carnegie Mellon University).[3] Under coach Walter Steffen,[4] the squad played teams such as Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Purdue, Michigan State, and USC.[5] Robertson was team captain and proved instrumental to several key victories in school history.[6] He is considered one of the best players in the history of the school.[7]
After college, Robertson played for the Akron Pros of the National Football League (NFL) in 1924 and 1925.[8] under head coaches Wayne Brenkert[9] and Scotty Bierce[10] He played for 16 games for Akron, recording statistics on both offense and defense.[11]
Robertson was the 16th head football coach at Geneva College located in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and he held that position for the 1933 season-the original plan was for him to coach at Geneva for only one year.[12] His coaching record at Geneva was 6–3 Robertson's first game as head coach was a 47 to 0 victory over the California Teacher's College in Pennsylvania.[13] After one season, Robertson was expected to be retained as head coach as late as January 1934.[14]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geneva Covenanters (Tri-State Conference) (1933) | |||||||||
| 1933 | Geneva | 7–3 | 4–0 | 1st | |||||
| Geneva: | 7–3 | 4–0 | |||||||
| Total: | 7–3 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||