{{Short description|U.S. Marine, college football player and coach}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} '''Claude E. Woodruff''' (died June 15, 2009) was a U.S. marine, college football player and head coach, as well as an assistant football and assistant track coach at various high schools in Central Florida including Union Academy in Bartow, Florida. Programs he coached in produced many players who went on to college football stardom, often at Florida A&M University (FAMU). Several became NFL players. As a player, he was on the 1950 FAMU team that won the Black College National Title. As a coach his teams won five track and field state titles. He is a member of the FAMU and Central Florida Sports Hall of Fame.<ref name=hall>{{Cite web|url=https://www.centralfloridasports.com/local-sports/halls-of-fame/polk-county-sports-hall-of-fame/2017-hall-of-fame-inductees-2/claude-woodruff/|title=Claude Woodruff}}</ref>
==Early life== Woodruff dropped out of school and served as a United States Marine in Japan. He returned to Union Academy a war hero and became a star athlete who was recruited by the coaches at Florida A&M University. As a 175-pound lineman he helped the Rattlers win the Black College National Title in 1950<ref name=hall/> playing for Alonzo “Jake” Gaither.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2002-04-26-0204250553-story.html|title=Claude Woodruff Tackles Lifr as Winner|first=Frank Carroll, Sentinel Staff|last=Writer|website=OrlandoSentinel.com}}</ref>
He planned to enlist in the Army after graduation, but FAMU coach Gaither and Union Academy principal James E. Stephens encouraged him to become a teacher and coach.
==Career in education and coaching== He taught science and physical education at several high schools in the Central Florida from 1952 until 1986, including at Union Academy<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1990-10-04-9010040666-story.html|title=James Joins Old High School Coach Woodruff in FAMU Hall of Fame|first=Bill Buchalter of The Sentinel|last=Staff|website=OrlandoSentinel.com}}</ref> where teams he worked with won five state championships in track and field. Players he worked with included Cincinnati Bengal and FAMU head football coach Ken Riley. His coaching stints also included time as Osceola High School's head coach<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sRdaAAAAYAAJ&q=claude+woodruff|title=Florida Public Employee Reporter: Decisions of the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission and Courts|date=May 3, 1978|publisher=Legal Intelligencer|via=Google Books}}</ref>
He also worked on a ranch and opened Osceola Q in Kissimmee. He had his recipes published in ''Great Black-American Cooking''.<ref name=hall/>
Marion County rancher Tom Silas was his uncle.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g7Ubhouh6g8C&q=claude+woodruff&pg=PA20|title=Touched by the Sun|first=Stuart B.|last=McIver|date=October 3, 2008|publisher=Pineapple Press Inc|isbn=9781561644407|via=Google Books}}</ref>
On February 25, 2002, he was interviewed about his experiences and career.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BHqX_baY1CAC&q=claude+woodruff&pg=PA395|title=Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age|first=Kevin|last=Boyle|date=September 7, 2004|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=9780805071450|via=Google Books}}</ref>
==Players he coached== *Ken Riley,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/breakinglineseas0000free|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/breakinglineseas0000free/page/96 96]|quote=claude woodruff.|title=Breaking the Line: The Season in Black College Football That Transformed the Sport and Changed the Course of Civil Rights|first=Samuel G.|last=Freedman|date=August 13, 2013|publisher=Simon and Schuster|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> cornerback for the Cincinnati Bengals *Nate James *Major Hazelton, Chicago Bear after leaving FAMU *Sam Silas, Boston Patriots player
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodruff, Claude}} Category:Year of birth missing Category:2009 deaths Category:Head coaches of American football Category:Florida A&M Rattlers football players Category:Schoolteachers from Florida Category:United States Marines