James Francis Lanagan (November 16, 1878 – August 7, 1937) was an American football, rugby, and baseball coach at Stanford University.

[1] In 1902, he married Clara Earl, a fellow member of the Stanford Class of 1900.

[2] In 1903, despite never having played football, Lanagan was selected as Stanford's head football coach, and coached the team for three years, compiling an overall record of 23–2–4.

[3][4] Despite having no knowledge of the sport, Lanagan was retained as the rugby coach, spending time in Vancouver, British Columbia and Australia to study the sport.

[5] During World War I, Lanagan was a major in the United States Army, fighting in France,[2] where he contracted a lung disease that would eventually result in his death two decades later.