James S. "Jim" Sutherland (August 20, 1914 – June 21, 1980) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach at Washington State University from 1956 to 1963, compiling a 37–39–4 record in eight seasons. An innovative coach, Sutherland ran a prototypical run-and-shoot offense at WSU in the early 1960s.Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Sutherland moved to southern California at age nine and graduated from Inglewood High School in 1933. He attended the University of Southern California (USC) and played on the Trojans football team from 1934 to 1936, a halfback listed at 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m), 184 lb (83 kg).After graduating from USC in 1937, Sutherland stayed in the Los Angeles area and became a football and track coach at Santa Monica High School. He was its head football coach from 1941 to 1952, with the exception of three years that he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. His record at SMHS was 79–13–3 (.847).Sutherland became a college assistant in 1953 at the University of California, Berkeley under Pappy Waldorf, and after two years moved to the University of Washington in 1955 under head coach John Cherberg.Following his departure from WSU in December 1963, Sutherland owned several automobile dealerships in Spokane. After an extended illness, he died in 1980 at age 65 at his home in Hayden Lake, Idaho.
$300,000