Milledgeville native leads UGA football to national title

Editor’s note: The following story is part of a feature called Home Grown in which we take a look at the people and products that have made a name for themselves well beyond our Middle Georgia borders.

Wally Butts, who is from Milledgeville, made a name for himself in Athens with the University of Georgia football program.

Butts, who played for Mercer University’s program from 1925-29, was hired as an assistant coach at Georgia in 1938 and took over the Bulldogs’ program in 1939. He remained the Bulldogs’ head coach until 1960 and finished with a 140-86-9 record and four SEC titles and a national title in 1942.

That 1942 season was one of the highlights of Butts’ tenure as Georgia’s head coach, finishing with an 11-1 record. Georgia also reached double figures in 1946 (11-0) and 1959 (10-1).

The Bulldogs won the Orange Bowl in 1941 and 1959, the Rose Bowl in 1942 and the Sugar Bowl in 1946.

Butts was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997.

This story was originally published November 11, 2016 at 3:04 PM with the headline "Milledgeville native leads UGA football to national title."