Ralph Sasse

Ralph Irvine Sasse (July 19, 1889 – October 16, 1954) was an American college football player and coach, athletics administrator, and United States Army officer. He served as the head football coach at the United States Military Academy from 1930 to 1932 and at Mississippi State College, now Mississippi State University, from 1935 to 1937, compiling a career college football record of 45–15–4.

Biography


Born near Wilmington, Delaware, in 1889, Sasse attended the United States Military Academy, graduating in 1916. After graduating from West Point, Sasse was assigned to the cavalry, and while serving the United States in World War I, he rose to the rank of Major and commanded the 301st Tank Battalion.

After World War I, he returned to his alma mater in 1924 as a mathematics instructor and was appointed head coach in 1929. Later, in 1935, Sasse joined the Mississippi State College staff as a science instructor and head football coach of the State College Maroons. After leading Mississippi State College to a 20–10–2 record in three years and an appearance in the 1937 Orange Bowl, Sasse stunned the students and players by resigning from his head coach's duties, following a doctor's orders after a sudden nervous breakdown. Upon leaving the coaching ranks, Sasse become the athletic director at Pennsylvania Military College, Chester in 1941.

Sasse died October 16, 1954, in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

He was inducted into the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame in 1981.