Alfred L. Buser
Encyclopedia
Alfred Leo "Al" Buser was an American football
player and coach. Buser played college football
for the University of Wisconsin, and was later the fourth head coach
of the Florida Gators football
team that represents the University of Florida
.
in 1888. He attended Madison High School, where he was a stand-out high school football
player and track & field athlete, and graduated in 1907.
, Buser attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Buser played tackle
for the Wisconsin Badgers football
team from 1908 to 1911, and memorably scored a touchdown
as a lineman in the 1910 game against the University of Chicago
. As a senior
, he was elected team captain
for the 1911 football season. The 1911 Badgers finished 5–1–1—their sole loss was a 6–0 edging by the Chicago Maroons
. After his junior year, Buser was named an All-American by Outing
magazine, after his senior season, Buser was again named an All-American by Outing, a first-team All-American by The New York Globe
, a Walter Camp
third-team All-American, and a Collier's first-team All-Western Conference
tackle. He lettered three years in football, and once in track, as a shot-putter.
Buser graduated from Wisconsin in 1912, and served as the director of athletics
of the Wisconsin athletic association during 1913. Buser married the former Leila W. Mathews that same year.
of the Florida Gators football team that represented the University of Florida in Gainesville
. Early expectations were high for Buser's first Gators team in 1917. The Gators opened their season with a 21–13 win over South Carolina Gamecocks
, but lost their remaining four SIAA
conference games to the Tulane Green Wave
, Auburn Tigers
, Clemson Tigers
and Kentucky Wildcats
. During his three seasons leading the Gators, Buser compiled a 7–8 record, including the one-game 1918 season shortened by the 1918 influenza pandemic and World War I
. Buser was also the university's athletic director and the professor
in charge of its physical education department. After an improved 5–3 season in 1919, Buser was replaced by William G. Kline
.
in Saint Paul, Minnesota
. In 1925, he was elected as the first president of the W Club, the University of Wisconsin's lettermen's association, as well as a member of the board of directors
of the Wisconsin Alumni Association in 1943. He was also a member of the Iron Cross Society
, the university's leadership honorary.
Buser died in Minneapolis, Minnesota
in 1956.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player and coach. Buser played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
for the University of Wisconsin, and was later the fourth head coach
Head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
of the Florida Gators football
Florida Gators football
The Florida Gators football team represents the University of Florida in the sport of American football. The Florida Gators compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletics Association and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference...
team that represents the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
.
Early years
Al Buser was born in Madison, WisconsinMadison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
in 1888. He attended Madison High School, where he was a stand-out high school football
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
player and track & field athlete, and graduated in 1907.
College career
After graduating from high schoolHigh school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
, Buser attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Buser played tackle
Tackle (American football)
Tackle is a playing position in American and Canadian football. Historically, in the one-platoon system a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, offensive tackle and defensive tackle are separate positions....
for the Wisconsin Badgers football
Wisconsin Badgers football
The Wisconsin Badgers are a college football program that represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. They play their home games at Camp Randall Stadium, the fourth-oldest stadium in college football...
team from 1908 to 1911, and memorably scored a touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
as a lineman in the 1910 game against the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. As a senior
Senior (education)
Senior is a term used in the United States to describe a student in the 4th year of study .-High school:...
, he was elected team captain
Captain (sports)
In team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field...
for the 1911 football season. The 1911 Badgers finished 5–1–1—their sole loss was a 6–0 edging by the Chicago Maroons
Chicago Maroons football
The Chicago Maroons are the college football team representing the University of Chicago. The Maroons play in NCAA Division III as a member of the University Athletic Association. From 1892 to 1939, the Maroons were a major college football power...
. After his junior year, Buser was named an All-American by Outing
Outing (magazine)
Outing was a late-nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American magazine covering a variety of sporting activities. It began publication in 1882 as the Wheelman and had four title changes before ceasing publication in 1923....
magazine, after his senior season, Buser was again named an All-American by Outing, a first-team All-American by The New York Globe
The New York Globe
The New York Globe was a daily New York City newspaper published from 1904 to 1923, when it was bought and merged into the New York Sun.-History:...
, a Walter Camp
Walter Camp
Walter Chauncey Camp was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". With John Heisman, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, Fielding H. Yost, and George Halas, Camp was one of the most accomplished persons in the early history of American football...
third-team All-American, and a Collier's first-team All-Western Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
tackle. He lettered three years in football, and once in track, as a shot-putter.
Buser graduated from Wisconsin in 1912, and served as the director of athletics
Athletic director
An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...
of the Wisconsin athletic association during 1913. Buser married the former Leila W. Mathews that same year.
Coaching career
From 1917 to 1919, Buser was the head coachHead coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
of the Florida Gators football team that represented the University of Florida in Gainesville
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
. Early expectations were high for Buser's first Gators team in 1917. The Gators opened their season with a 21–13 win over South Carolina Gamecocks
South Carolina Gamecocks football
The South Carolina Gamecocks football team represents the University of South Carolina in NCAA Division I college football. The Gamecocks have been a member of the Southeastern Conference since 1992. Steve Spurrier is the current head coach, and the team plays its home games at Williams-Brice...
, but lost their remaining four SIAA
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS football programs were members of this conference at some point, as were at least 19 other schools...
conference games to the Tulane Green Wave
Tulane Green Wave football
The Tulane Green Wave football program is an NCAA Division I FBS football team that represents Tulane University in New Orleans. The team is a member of Conference USA and is led by interim head coach Mark Hutson, who took over on October 18, 2011, when fifth-year head coach Bob Toledo resigned...
, Auburn Tigers
Auburn Tigers football
Only Mohamed Amin Abughadir set the record with 1,890 yards in 1 season. He was the QB for Auburn in 1998.The Auburn Tigers football team represents Auburn University in college football as a member of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, competing in the Western Division of the...
, Clemson Tigers
Clemson Tigers football
The Clemson Tigers football team is an American football team from Clemson University in South Carolina. It competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference...
and Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky Wildcats football
The Kentucky Wildcats football team is a college football program that competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the East Division of the Southeastern Conference.-History:Paul "Bear" Bryant Era...
. During his three seasons leading the Gators, Buser compiled a 7–8 record, including the one-game 1918 season shortened by the 1918 influenza pandemic and World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Buser was also the university's athletic director and the professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
in charge of its physical education department. After an improved 5–3 season in 1919, Buser was replaced by William G. Kline
William G. Kline
William Gordon Kline was an American college football, baseball and basketball coach. At different times, Kline served as the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball, basketball and football teams, as well as the Florida Gators baseball, basketball and football teams.- Early life :Kline...
.
Athletic director
Buser was later the athletic director for Hamline UniversityHamline University
-Red Wing location :Hamline was named in honor of Leonidas Lent Hamline, a bishop of the Methodist Church whose interest in the frontier led him to donate $25,000 toward the building of an institution of higher learning in what was then the territory of Minnesota. Today, a statue of Bishop Hamline...
in Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
. In 1925, he was elected as the first president of the W Club, the University of Wisconsin's lettermen's association, as well as a member of the board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of the Wisconsin Alumni Association in 1943. He was also a member of the Iron Cross Society
Iron Cross (Secret Society)
The Iron Cross Society is University of Wisconsin–Madison's oldest and most prestigious secret societies. Election to the Iron Cross Society has been considered the highest honor a UW–Madison undergraduate could achieve.- Background :...
, the university's leadership honorary.
Buser died in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
in 1956.
Head coaching record
See also
- 1910 College Football All-America Team1910 College Football All-America TeamThe 1910 College Football All-America team is composed of various organizations that chose College Football All-America Teams that season. The organizations that chose the teams were Collier's Weekly selected by Walter Camp, Leslie's Weekly, and the New York Evening Telegram.-Complaints of Eastern...
- 1911 College Football All-America Team1911 College Football All-America TeamThe 1911 College Football All-America team consists of American football players selected to the College Football All-America Teams selected by various organizations in 1911...
- Florida GatorsFlorida GatorsThe Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...
- Florida Gators football, 1910–1919
- History of the University of FloridaHistory of the University of FloridaThe history of the University of Florida is firmly tied to the history of public education in the state of Florida. The University of Florida, colloquially known as "Florida" or "UF," originated as several distinct institutions that were merged to create a single state-supported university by the...
- List of Florida Gators head football coaches
- List of University of Florida faculty and administrators
- List of University of Wisconsin–Madison people
- University Athletic AssociationUniversity of Florida Athletic AssociationThe University Athletic Association, Inc. is a non-profit corporation that is responsible for maintaining the Florida Gators intercollegiate sports program of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida...
- Wisconsin BadgersWisconsin BadgersThe Wisconsin Badgers are the collegiate athletic teams from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This NCAA Division I athletic program has teams in football, basketball, ice hockey, volleyball, soccer, cross country, tennis, swimming, wrestling, track and field, rowing, golf, and softball...