The Early Years

Born on August 31, 1874 in Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania, Joseph Audley (J.A.) Pierce was a college football coach and the first ever coach at the University of Tennessee.

He grew up in the Gill Hill suburb of Jefferson Hills, and having completed his high school education attended the prestigious Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Unlike many other college football coaches that followed in his footsteps, he didn’t play college football himself. His main goal was instead to become a lawyer, and he attended the University of Tennessee to read law, but found himself becoming head coach for the Volunteers at the same time.

Coaching History & Timeline

He was the University of Tennessee’s first football coach, so had no real structure to work from, yet had a successful run in the two years he served as coach.

1899 was the first year he started, and the concept of an actual coaching team with assistant coaches and end coaches hadn’t even been established; so it was just Pierce who ran the whole operation.

During his first year as coach the Volunteers went 6-2, with an 11-5 win over King College in what was the University of Tennessee’s first ever collegiate football game.

After two back to back losses against Sewanee and Virginia Tech, Pierce guided his team to five consecutive wins beating Washington, Georgia, Lee, Kentucky and Kentucky A&M.

During his second year Tennessee had another winning year going 3-2-1, losing to Auburn and North Carolina.

His term as head coach was only two years while he finished law school, and between 1899 and 1900 he had a remarkable winning record of 9-4-1.

It’s clear that had he pursued this career, and especially as the football program began to develop at the University, he would have found even greater success as time went on.

It was apparent that the world of business and law was where Pierce’s focus lied.

Life After Coaching

He graduated law school and headed back to Pennsylvania and made Dravosburg his home. Fortunately, he found that he had oil on the land he owned, so was able to lead a privileged life in addition to finding success in the banking industry.

A natural born entrepreneur, he was part of a group of investors that acquired 107 acres outside Pittsburgh, by the Youghiogheny River. With his obvious leadership abilities, he was able to transform what was a four-hole golf course at the time into a full 18 hole golf course. The result was the Youghiogheny Country Club, which is now a thriving golf club with a fitness center and even hosts weddings and events.

While there are some sources claiming that he became a high school football coach at Corsicana High School in Texas, there are no records to confirm this.

Therefore, it’s assumed that his two year stint at the University of Tennessee as Head Coach to the Volunteers is his only coaching history, at least at a collegiate level.

While it could be considered a shame Pierce didn’t fully explore his obvious abilities as a Head Coach, potentially moving onto other colleges, he definitely left a legacy as he created the foundation and lit the fuse for what would become one of the strongest college football programs in the United States.

J.A. Pierce passed away in 1956 and he was buried in Homewood Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.