Alfred L. Buser

Alfred Leo Buser (September 21, 1888 – December 3, 1956), nicknamed Al Buser, was an American football player and coach. Buser played college football for the University of Wisconsin, and was recognized as an All-American. He later became the fourth head coach of the Florida Gators football team that represents the University of Florida.

Alfred L. Buser
Buser in 1911 as Wisconsin team captain
Biographical details
Born(1888-09-21)September 21, 1888
Madison, Wisconsin
DiedDecember 3, 1956(1956-12-03) (aged 68)
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Playing career
1908–1911Wisconsin
Position(s)Guard, tackle
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1917–1919Florida
1920–1922Saint Paul Central HS (MI)
1924Hamline
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1917–1919Florida
1924–1925Hamline
Head coaching record
Overall8–13 (college)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
Outing All-American (1910, 1911)
New York Globe first-team All-American (1911)
Walter Camp's third-team All-American (1911)
Collier's first-team All-Western Conference (1911)

Early years

Buser was born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1888.[1] He attended Madison High School, where he was a stand-out high school football player and track and field athlete, and graduated in 1907.

College career

After graduating from high school, Buser attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Buser played tackle for the Wisconsin Badgers football team from 1908 to 1911. He memorably scored a touchdown as a lineman in the 1910 game against Chicago.[2] As a senior, he was elected captain of the 1911 football team.[3] The 1911 Badgers finished 5–1–1[4]—their sole loss was a 5–0 edging by the Chicago Maroons.[5] After his junior year, Buser was named an All-American by Outing magazine,[6] after his senior season, Buser was again named an All-American by Outing,[7] a first-team All-American by The New York Globe,[8] a Walter Camp third-team All-American,[9] and a Collier's first-team All-Western Conference tackle.[10] He lettered three years in football and once in track,[11] 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.[12]

Coaching career

From 1917 to 1919, Buser was the head coach of the Florida Gators football team that represented the University of Florida in Gainesville.[13] Early expectations were high for Buser's first Gators team in 1917.[14] The Gators opened their season with a 21–13 win over South Carolina Gamecocks, after falling behind early,[15][16] but lost their remaining four Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) games to the Tulane Green Wave, Auburn Tigers, Clemson Tigers, and Kentucky Wildcats.[17] During his three seasons leading the Gators, Buser compiled a 7–8 record,[18] 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.[19] After an improved 5–3 season in 1919,[20] Buser was replaced by William G. Kline.[13]

In 1920, Buser was hired as athletic coach at Saint Paul Central High School in Saint Paul, Minnesota and mentored the football team for three seasons. He also coached a number of other sports at Central. Buser was the athletic director for Hamline University in Saint Paul during the 1924–25 academic year and head football coach for the Pipers in the fall of 1924.[21][22][23]

Later life and death

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.[24] He was also a member of the Iron Cross Society, the university's leadership honorary.[25]

Buser died in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1956.[26]

Head coaching record

College
Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Florida Gators (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1917–1919)
1917 Florida 2–41–4
1918 Florida 0–1NANA
1919 Florida 5–32–3
Florida: 7–83–7
Hamline Pipers (Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference / Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1924)
1924 Hamline 1–50–2 / 1–3T–8th
Hamline: 1–51–4
Total:8–13

See also

References
  1. Florida Memory, World War I Induction Card Archived September 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Florida State Library & Archives, Tallahassee, Florida. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  2. Parke H. Davis, Football: The American Intercollegiate Game, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, New York, p. 170 (1912).
  3. "Football Captain Ill," Milwaukee Sentinel, p. 10 (January 10, 1911). Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  4. College Football Data Warehouse, All-Time Coaching Records, John R. Richards 1911. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  5. "Badger-Maroon Game Notes," Chicago Daily Tribune, p. C2 (November 3, 1911). Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  6. "Many Westerners on this Honor List: Football Coaches' Verdict of All-American Stars Offered By Outing," The New York Times (December 19, 1910).
  7. "Pick Syracusans for Honor List: Representative Coaches Select Orange Captain-Elect and Retiring Captain," Syracuse Herald (December 11, 1911).
  8. "Three Westerners on All-American Eleven," Sandusky Star Journal (December 2, 1911).
  9. "All-American Teams Picked By Walter Camp," Harvard Crimson (December 7, 1911). Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  10. James Mott, ed., 1959 Football Facts and Wisconsin Athletic Review 1958-1959, Wisconsin's All-Conference Players, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, p. 40 (1959).
  11. Morris Bockee Mitchell, ed., 1912 Wisconsin Badger, W Wearers, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin (1912). Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  12. "Alumni News," The Wisconsin Alumni Magazine, vol. 15, no. 2, p. 85 (November 1913).
  13. 2012 Florida Football Media Guide Archived May 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 107, 115, 116 (2012). Retrieved September 16, 2012.
  14. "Lively Year is Ahead for State 'Varsity Eleven," Miami Daily Metropolis, p. 10 (October 12, 1917). Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  15. Joe Dalton (October 17, 1917). "'Gators Smash Carolina Defense And Win Brilliant 21-13 Victory". The Florida Alligator. 6 (4).
  16. http://floridagators.com/news/2006/8/8/10733.aspx
  17. College Football Data Warehouse, All-Time Coaching Records, Alfred Leo "Al" Buser: 1917. Retrieved March 19, 2010.
  18. College Football Data Warehouse, All-Time Coaching Records, Alfred Leo "Al" Buser Records by Year Archived October 19, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  19. University Record, Vol. XIV, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida (May 1919).
  20. College Football Data Warehouse, All-Time Coaching Records, Alfred Leo "Al" Buser: 1919. Retrieved March 19, 2010.
  21. Swanson, Bernard (April 20, 1924). "Appointee to Feature Grid, Track Sports". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minnesota. p. 37. Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com .
  22. Swanson, Bernard (April 20, 1924). "Buser Athletic Chief At Hamline (continued)". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minnesota. p. 38. Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com .
  23. Robert S. Crawford, ed., "U.W. Clubs," The Wisconsin Alumni Magazine, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 13–16 (November 1924). Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  24. Jeanne Lamoreaux, ed., The Wisconsin Alumni Association," The Wisconsin Alumnus, vol. 44, no. 4, p. 289 (July 1943). Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  25. The Iron Cross Society, Past Initiates by Year: 1910–1919 Archived June 11, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  26. George Richard, ed., "Necrology," The Wisconsin Alumnus, vol. 58, no. 10, p. 39 (February 15, 1957), Retrieved March 18, 2010.

Bibliography
  • 2012 Florida Football Media Guide, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida (2012).
  • Carlson, Norm, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). ISBN 0-7948-2298-3.
  • Golenbock, Peter, Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory, Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). ISBN 0-9650782-1-3.
  • McCarthy, Kevin M., Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football, Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). ISBN 978-0-7385-0559-6.
  • McEwen, Tom, The Gators: A Story of Florida Football, The Strode Publishers, Huntsville, Alabama (1974). ISBN 0-87397-025-X.
  • Proctor, Samuel, & Wright Langley, Gator History: A Pictorial History of the University of Florida, South Star Publishing Company, Gainesville, Florida (1986). ISBN 0-938637-00-2.
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