Phil Sarboe

Philip John Sarboe (August 22, 1911 – November 19, 1985) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at the State College of Washington — now Washington State University — and professionally in National Football League (NFL) with the Boston Redskins, Chicago Cardinals, and Brooklyn Dodgers.

Sarboe served as the head football coach at Central Washington College of Education — now Central Washington University—from 1941 to 1942, Washington State from 1945 to 1949, Humboldt State College — now California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt — from 1951 to 1965, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1966, compiling a career college football record of .620.

Early years and college playing career
Born in Fairbanks, Alaska, Sarboe graduated from Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington, and was a three-sport athlete in the Pacific Coast Conference at the State College of Washington in Pullman — now Washington State University.

On a basketball scholarship from head coach Jack Friel, he also played shortstop in baseball under head coach Buck Bailey, and had his greatest success in football, most notably as a fullback under head coach Babe Hollingbery. Sarboe played in the East–West Shrine Game in January 1934. Although he had minor league offers in baseball, he chose to play professional football.

Professional playing career
Sarboe played three seasons in the National Football League, starting with Boston Redskins in 1934. Listed at 5ft 10in and 167 lb, he was traded that season to the Chicago Cardinals, and finished his pro career in 1936 with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

He completed 42.3 percent of his passes for a total of 1,133 yards, with a 4–26 career touchdown to interception ratio, working out to a career passer rating of 27.9.

Coaching career
Sarboe began his coaching career in 1937 in southeastern Washington at Clarkston High School, then moved west to Aberdeen in 1939. In 1941 and 1942, he coached football at Central Washington College of Education—now Central Washington University—in Ellensburg, compiling a 6–6–3 record. The 1942 team was 4–1–1 in the Washington Intercollegiate Conference and won the conference title.

The program was suspended after the 1942 season due to World War II, and Sarboe coached in Tacoma at Lincoln High School, his alma mater. He had planned to return to Ellensburg to coach the high school team in 1945 and then return to Central Washington when it resumed football in 1946.

Hollingbery, the Cougars' head coach since 1926, was not brought back in 1945 and Sarboe was hired as head coach of the Cougars in late May, the first alumnus to head the football program. In his first season in Pullman, WSC posted a 6–2–1 record, but struggled afterward; Sarboe had a .400 record in five seasons and resigned in December 1949.

Sarboe coached a season at North Central High School in Spokane in 1950, then went to Humboldt State College in Arcata, California, where he compiled a record of .720 in fifteen seasons. In 1966, he left to coach for a season at Hawaii and posted a 4–6 record. Sarboe then returned to northwest California and became a coach and athletic director at the College of the Redwoods, a junior college in Eureka, and retired in 1977.

Death
Sarboe died of cancer at age 74 in 1985 in Spokane.