Vernon Hibbett Sharp, Jr. (November 30, 1906 – April 5, 1991) was a college football player and coach.

Vernon Sharp
Vanderbilt Commodores
PositionCenter
Personal information
Born:(1906-11-30)November 30, 1906
Nashville, Tennessee
Died:April 5, 1991(1991-04-05) (aged 84)
Brentwood, Tennessee
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight181 lb (82 kg)
Career history
CollegeVanderbilt (1926–1927)
Career highlights and awards

Early years edit

Vernon Sharp, Jr. was born in Nashville on November 30, 1906 to Vernon Hibbett Sharp and Lorene Seleney Dandridge. His older brother Alfred Sharp was also a Vanderbilt center.

Vanderbilt University edit

He was a prominent center for Dan McGugin's Vanderbilt Commodores of Vanderbilt University.[1] He was in the same class as the quarterback to whom he snapped the ball, College Football Hall of Fame member Bill Spears.[2]

1927 edit

Sharp was captain of the 1927 team,[3] which included the nation's leading scorer in running back Jimmy Armistead.[4] Sharp received the second most All-Southern votes of any center, behind Elvin Butcher of Tennessee. Sharp arguably had the better season, but was seen as having been outperformed by Butcher in the Vanderbilt–Tennessee game.[5] Sharp was suffering from a knee injury at the time, including the week before against Georgia Tech and Peter Pund.[6] He was called by coach McGugin the greatest Vandy center since Stein Stone.[6]

Coaching career edit

In 1936, he coached Vanderbilt's freshmen team.

References edit

  1. ^ "Spears Given Highest Vote in Selection". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. November 27, 1927.
  2. ^ "Vernon Sharpe, Vanderbilt Star Center". The Waco News Tribune. October 13, 1927. p. 7. Retrieved May 13, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.  
  3. ^ "Vanderbilt Trio of Underclassmen to Captain 2003 Squad; Team Without Senior Captain for First Time Since World War I". June 9, 2003. Archived from the original on November 26, 2009. Retrieved July 20, 2010.
  4. ^ Ernie Couch (30 July 2001). SEC Football Trivia. ISBN 9781418571788.
  5. ^ "Four Georgia Grid Stars Voted Places On United Press Conference Team". Banner-Herald. November 23, 1917.
  6. ^ a b "1927 Vanderbilt Commodores" (PDF).