View source for Hamp Pool

{{Short description|American football player, coach, and scout (1915–2000)}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name               = Hamp Pool
| image              = Pool-Hampton-1953.jpg
| caption            = Pool in 1953
| number             = 76, 55
| position           = [[End (gridiron football)|End]]
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1915|3|11|mf=y}}
| birth_place        = [[San Miguel, San Luis Obispo County, California|San Miguel, California]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|2000|5|26|1915|3|11|mf=y}}
| death_place        = [[Mariposa, California]], U.S.
| height_ft          = 6
| height_in          = 3
| weight_lb          = 221
| high_school        = [[Paso Robles High School|Paso Robles (CA)]]
| college            = [[California Golden Bears football|California]]<br>[[Army Black Knights football|Army]]<br>[[Stanford Cardinal football|Stanford]]
| draftyear          = 1940
| draftround         = 9
| draftpick          = 77 
| pastteams          = 
* [[Chicago Bears]] ({{NFL Year|1940|1943}})
* [[Fort Pierce Amphibs football|Fort Pierce]] (1944)
* [[Miami Seahawks]] ([[1946 AAFC season|1946]])
| pastcoaching       = 
* Fort Pierce (1944–1945)<br>Head coach
* Miami Seahawks (1946)<br>Co-head coach
* [[Chicago Rockets]] ([[1947 AAFC season|1947]])<br>Head coach
* [[San Jose State Spartans football|San Jose State]] (1948)<br>Assistant coach
* [[San Bernardino Valley Wolverines football|San Bernardino Valley]] (1949)<br>Assistant coach
* [[Los Angeles Rams]] ({{NFL Year|1950|1951}})<br>Backfield coach
* Los Angeles Rams ({{NFL Year|1952|1954}})<br>Head coach
* [[Toronto Argonauts]] (1957–1959)<br>Head coach
| highlights         = 
* 3× [[List of NFL champions (1920–1969)|NFL champion]] ([[1940 NFL Championship Game|1940]], [[1941 NFL Championship Game|1941]], [[1943 NFL Championship Game|1943]])
* 2× [[Pro Bowl|NFL All-Star]] ([[1940 National Football League All-Star Game (December)|1940]], [[1942 National Football League All-Star Game (January)|1941]])
| statlabel1         = [[Reception (gridiron football)|Reception]]s
| statvalue1         = 38
| statlabel2         = Receiving yards
| statvalue2         = 903
| statlabel3         = [[Touchdown]]s
| statvalue3         = 11
| coachregrecord     = {{Winning percentage|26|19|2|record=y}}
| coachplayoffrecord = {{Winning percentage|0|1|record=y}}
| coachrecord        = {{Winning percentage|26|20|2|record=y}}
| pfr                = PoolHa20
| pfrcoach           = PoolHa0
}}

'''Hampton John''' "'''Hamp'''" '''Pool''' (March 11, 1915 – May 26, 2000) was an [[American football]] player, coach and scout who was part of two [[National Football League]] (NFL) championship teams during his playing career and served as head coach for three professional teams.

==Playing career==
Pool graduated from [[Paso Robles High School]] in [[Paso Robles, California]] in 1933, and played for the [[University of California, Berkeley]]'s freshman football team that fall. After entering the [[United States Military Academy]] for one year, he returned to resume his career at [[Stanford University]], playing as an [[End (gridiron football)|end]], and also performing for the school's track team.

In the [[1940 NFL draft]], he was a ninth round draft pick of the [[Chicago Bears]] and played four seasons with the [[Chicago|Windy City]] team.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1940 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1940/draft.htm |access-date=March 30, 2023 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> During that stretch, he played at both [[Fullback (gridiron football)|fullback]] and end, catching 35 passes for 840 yards and scoring 11 touchdowns. His efforts helped the team to NFL titles in both 1940 and 1941, with Pool scoring one of the Bears' nine touchdowns in the 73–0 thrashing of the [[Washington Redskins]] in the 1940 title tilt. In 1942, the Bears were undefeated during the regular season, but were upset, 14–6, by those same Redskins in the NFL Championship game.

After his career was ended by a leg injury, Pool served as a player-coach for the Fort Pierce Naval Amphibious Base during the final two years of World War II, while also working as an underwater demolition officer. His 1943 unit finished undefeated, and in 1944, he made news when he refused to wear jersey number 14 out of respect for [[Green Bay Packers]]' standout [[Don Hutson]]. "No. 14 is Don Hutson's number, and nobody else should have that, certainly not me", said Pool.

==NFL career statistics==
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
! colspan="2"| Legend
|-
| style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"|
| Won the [[History of the NFL championship|NFL Championship]]
|-
| '''Bold'''
| Career high
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!rowspan="2"| Year
!rowspan="2"| Team
!colspan="2"| Games
!colspan="5"| Receiving
|-
! GP !! GS !! Rec !! Yds !! Avg !! Lng !! TD
|-
! [[1940 NFL season|1940]] !! style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"| [[1940 Chicago Bears season|CHI]]
| 5 || 4 || 2 || 55 || 27.5 || 35 || 0
|-
! [[1941 NFL season|1941]] !! style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"| [[1941 Chicago Bears season|CHI]]
| 7 || 0 || 5 || 101 || 20.2 || 56 || 1
|-
! [[1942 NFL season|1942]] !! [[1942 Chicago Bears season|CHI]]
| 11 || 0 || 10 || 321 || '''32.1''' || '''64''' || '''5'''
|-
! [[1943 NFL season|1943]] !! style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"| [[1943 Chicago Bears season|CHI]]
| 10 || 0 || '''18''' || '''363''' || 20.2 || 42 || '''5'''
|-
! colspan="2"| !! 33 !! 4 !! 35 !! 840 !! 24.0 !! 64 !! 11
|}

==Coaching career==
When the conflict ended, Pool officially entered the coaching arena in 1946, serving as an assistant for the [[All-America Football Conference]]'s [[Miami Seahawks]] under [[Jack Meagher]]. After the team had won just one of six contests during its inaugural campaign, Meagher resigned on October 22, with Pool and fellow assistant [[Hank Crisp]] taking over as co-head coaches.

After the Seahawks became the [[Baltimore Colts (1947–50)|Baltimore Colts]] after the season, Pool stayed with the revamped franchise until accepting an assistant's position under [[Jim Crowley]], who had been named head coach and general manager of the AAFC's [[Chicago Rockets]]. Crowley won only one of 11 games before turning the team over to Pool, who watched the team drop its final three contests.

In 1948, Pool returned to his native California to serve as an assistant under Bill Hubbard at [[San Jose State University]]. The Spartans finished with a 9–3 record, but Pool departed after the season to enter private business, but stayed connected to the sport as an assistant coach at [[San Bernardino Valley College]]. On March 3, 1950, Pool returned to the professional ranks when his former Bears teammate, [[Joe Stydahar]], hired him as backfield coach of the [[Los Angeles Rams]].

Over the next two seasons, Pool handled the team's offense and defense, the former being one of the most potent in league history. During this period, the Rams reached the NFL title game in both seasons, dropping a heartbreaking last-minute decision in 1950 before winning the following year's clash, both games coming against the [[Cleveland Browns]].

[[File:Hamp Pool 1951 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Coach Pool with the Rams in 1951.]]
However, when the team was pounded 37–7 by the Browns in the 1952 opener, reports of a simmering feud between Stydahar and Pool surfaced. During the offseason, Stydahar had taken away defensive duties from Pool, then attacked the latter's work ethic. The Rams split into factions in support of each coach.

Further controversy developed when Stydahar resigned on September 30, 1952, and Pool took his place. Pool had told media that "under no circumstances" would he accept the job if Stydahar resigned, then changed his mind. The situation mirrored Pool's earlier stints in Miami and Chicago, where he was accused of undermining the head coach before taking over the position.

Ridding itself of the earlier problems, the Rams rebounded to win nine of their final 11 games, with the ''[[New York Daily News]]'' awarding Pool Coach of the Year honors. For the fourth consecutive year, the team reached the postseason, but unlike the previous year, dropped the divisional playoff game to the [[Detroit Lions]].

In 1953, the Rams again finished 9–3, but endured a number of key injuries and had the misfortune of being in the same conference as the defending champion Lions, factors that kept them out of the playoffs. The next year, the team dropped to 6–6, with Pool spending time defending the team against charges of dirty play, while also battling reports of a revolt among his players. After some team members were severely criticized by Pool, team owner [[Dan Reeves (NFL Owner)|Dan Reeves]] met privately with a group of players. Reeves stated that he would keep Pool despite the controversy, but after four of the team's five assistant coaches announced they were resigning, Pool quit on December 17, 1954, ending his Rams' head coaching career with a 23–10–2 mark.

Soon after [[Sid Gillman]] was hired as Pool's successor, erroneous reports surfaced that Pool would again be a Rams' assistant. Instead, he served as an assistant coach for the next two years in the annual [[College All-Star Game]], and also served his first stint as a scout. On December 27, 1956, he headed north when he was hired as head coach of the [[Canadian Football League]]'s [[Toronto Argonauts]], earning the biggest coaching contract in league history up to that time.

When [[Bob Waterfield]] was named head coach of the Rams in January 1960, he named Pool, who had been running a [[Toronto]] travel agency, as an assistant two months later. The two had worked together a decade earlier in fashioning the team's potent offense, and Waterfield had assisted Pool during the latter's 1957 training camp in Toronto.

Despite the chemistry between the two, the Rams managed only a 4–7–1 record, then followed that with a 4–10 mark. During the latter part of the [[1961 NFL season]], another player revolt against Pool began when complaints about his status and coaching methods surfaced. Ram tackle [[Frank Varrichione]] and [[Joe Marconi]] charged that Pool was really running the team, comparing him to a slave-driver, and that the team's offense was dated.

When Waterfield was let go midway through the [[1962 NFL season]], having compiled a 9–24–1 record, Pool and the remainder of the staff finished out the season under interim head coach [[Harland Svare]]. When Svare was retained after the season, Pool became a scout for the team.

==Later life==

Pool later helped start the league's first scouting combine, Quadra, and serve as a talent scout for the next few decades. In 1964, he moved from [[Southern California]] to a ranch in the foothills of the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]]. He died of [[congestive heart failure]] in [[Mariposa, California]].

==Head coaching record==
===Service===
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = AP }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Fort Pierce Amphibs football|Fort Pierce Amphibs]]
 | conf      = Independent
 | startyear = 1944
 | endyear   = single
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1944 college football season|1944]]
 | name         = [[1944 Fort Pierce Amphibs football team|Fort Pierce]]
 | overall      = 9–0
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = 18
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1945 college football season|1945]]
 | name         = [[1945 Fort Pierce Amphibs football team|Fort Pierce]]
 | overall      = 4–9
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = 
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name         = Fort Pierce
 | overall      = 13–9
 | confrecord   = 
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
 | overall  = 13–9
 | bowls    = no
 | poll     = no
 | polltype = 
 | legend   = no
}}

===Professional===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="5"|Regular Season !! colspan="4"|Post Season
|-
!Won !!Lost!!Ties!!Win %!!Finish!!Won!!Lost!!Win %!!Result
|-
![[1946 Miami Seahawks season|MIA]]||1946
|2||6||0||.250||4th in AAFC Eastern|| – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|MIA Total||2||6||0||.250|| || – || – || – || – 
|-
![[1947 Chicago Rockets season|CHI]]||1947
|1||3||0||.250||4th in AAFC West|| – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|CHI Total||1||3||0||.250|| || – || – || – || – 
|-
! colspan="2"|AAFC Total||3||9||0||.250|| || – || – || – || – 
|-
![[1952 Los Angeles Rams season|LA]]||[[1952 NFL season|1952]]
|9||2||0||.818||2nd in NFL National|| 0 || 1 || .000 || <Small>'''Lost to [[Detroit Lions]] in [[1952 NFL playoffs|Conference Championship]].'''</Small>
|-
![[1953 Los Angeles Rams season|LA]]||[[1953 NFL season|1953]]
|8||3||1||.708||3rd in NFL Western|| – || – || – || –
|-
![[1954 Los Angeles Rams season|LA]]||[[1954 NFL season|1954]]
|6||5||1||.542||4th in NFL Western|| – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|LA Total||23||10||2||.686|| || 0 || 1 || .000 || – 
|-
! colspan="2"|NFL Total<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/PoolHa0.htm|title=Hampton Pool Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks - Pro-Football-Reference.com|website=Pro-Football-Reference.com}}</ref>||23||10||2||.686|| || 0 || 1 || .000 || – 
|-
![[1957 Toronto Argonauts season|TOR]]||[[1957 in Canadian football|1957]]
|4||10||0||.286||4th in IRFU|| – || – || – || –
|-
![[1958 Toronto Argonauts season|TOR]]||[[1958 CFL season|1958]]
|4||10||0||.286||4th in IRFU|| – || – || – || –
|-
![[1959 Toronto Argonauts season|TOR]]||[[1959 CFL season|1959]]
|2||5||0||.286||4th in IRFU|| – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|TOR Total||10||25||0||.286|| || – || – || – || – 
|-
! colspan="2"|CFL Total||10||25||0||.286|| || – || – || – || – 
|-
! colspan="2"|Total||36||44||2||.451|| || 0 || 1 || .000 || – 
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-sports}}
{{succession box | title=[[Chicago Rockets|Chicago Rockets Head Coaches]] | before=[[Jim Crowley]] | years=1947| after=[[Edward McKeever]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Miami Seahawks}}
{{Los Angeles Rams coach navbox}}
{{Toronto Argonauts coach navbox}}
{{Bears1940DraftPicks}}
{{Navboxes
| title = Hamp Pool—championships
| list1 =
{{1940 Chicago Bears}}
{{1941 Chicago Bears}}
{{1943 Chicago Bears}}
{{1951 Los Angeles Rams}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pool, Hamp}}
[[Category:1915 births]]
[[Category:2000 deaths]]
[[Category:American football ends]]
[[Category:Player-coaches]]
[[Category:Chicago Bears players]]
[[Category:Chicago Rockets coaches]]
[[Category:Miami Seahawks coaches]]
[[Category:Fort Pierce Amphibs football coaches]]
[[Category:Fort Pierce Amphibs football players]]
[[Category:Los Angeles Rams coaches]]
[[Category:Los Angeles Rams head coaches]]
[[Category:Los Angeles Rams scouts]]
[[Category:San Bernardino Valley Wolverines football coaches]]
[[Category:San Jose State Spartans football coaches]]
[[Category:Stanford Cardinal football players]]
[[Category:Toronto Argonauts coaches]]
[[Category:United States Navy officers]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Paso Robles, California]]
[[Category:Coaches of American football from California]]
[[Category:Players of American football from San Luis Obispo County, California]]
[[Category:Military personnel from California]]
[[Category:NFL Coach of the Year winners]]