Edwin Regur Sweetland (January 10, 1875 – October 21, 1950) was an American coach, trainer, and athletic administrator at several universities. During his coaching career he was head coach of many sports including basketball, track and field, and rowing, but the majority of for his coaching work was in football. Though mainly known for football, he left his mark on several college athletics departments and other sports. This includes being the first athletic trainer at Ohio State University, the first paid coach of the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, and the first coach of Syracuse University rowing team.
Sweetland attended Union College and graduated from Cornell University in 1899. A gifted athlete, Sweetland was on the varsity football team at Union and Cornell and the varsity rowing team at Cornell. At Cornell he was coached by Hall of Fame coaches Pop Warner in football and Charles E. Courtney in rowing.
Early life and family
Sweetland was born to George Sweetland and Hannah Marsh Sweetland on January 10, 1875 in Dryden, New York. He had several brothers and sisters. One of his brothers was Monroe Marsh Sweetland, who founded Delta Chi fraternity while a law student at Cornell University. Another brother, Dr. George James Sweetland, was captain of the Union College football team in 1895 and later the athletic director and head football coach at University of North Dakota.
College
After attending Union College for one year, Sweetland transferred to Cornell University, where he graduated in 1899 with a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture. At Cornell, he was member of Phi Gamma Delta and the Sphinx Head Society. A talented athlete, Sweetland rowed on the varsity crew team, and played tackle on the football team at Cornell. Sweetland was a considered one of the top players in the early years of Big Red football. The Sun named Sweetland to the second team of the all-time Cornell football team in an article on January 29, 1927.
Football career
Sweetland began his college football career in 1894. "Sweet" as he was nicknamed, played guard for Union College along with his brother, George. He transferred to Cornell for the 1895 season where he moved to tackle under coach Marshall Newell and helped the school to a 3–4–1 record. That year, Sweetland was part of the line that helped Clint Wyckoff become Cornell's first College Football All-American. The following year, Cornell changed coaches replacing Newell with Joseph Beacham. Sweetland helped the Beacham lead the squad to a record of 5–3–1. In 1897, Pop Warner took over as head coach. Sweetland could not play for Warner in the 1897 season. During the offseason he went through surgery and his doctors would not allow him to play. When practice started for the 1898 season, Warner had to replace many starters including the previous year's captain, William McKeever. Sweetland returned to the line in 1898. With Sweetland's help, the team won 10 of their first 11 games, setting up a big game for Cornell against national power Penn in the final game of the season. Sweetland helped Cornell take a 6–0 lead before halftime. He broke through Penn's line blocking a kick and recovered the ball for a touchdown, but Penn came back and won by a score of 12–6. With the Penn loss, the team finished the season 10–2, outscoring their opponents by a score of 296–29. After the season, he was named 3rd team All-America by Walter Camp.