Heisman, John W.
Football
b. Oct. 25, 1869, Cleveland, OH
d. Oct. 3, 1936
Heisman played football at Brown University from 1887 through 1889 and at the University of Pennsylvania in 1890 and 1891. He coached in 1892 at Oberlin College. It was only the second year of football at the school, but Heisman's team won all 7 of its games, including a victory over Michigan and two over Ohio State.
He was 5-2-0 at Akron University in 1893, returned to Oberlin for a 4-3-1 season in 1894, and then took over at Auburn University for 5 seasons, winning 12 games, losing 4, and tying 2.
In 1900, Heisman became coach at Clemson. His first team won all 6 of its games and he had a 19-3-2 record there in 4 seasons before moving on to Georgia Tech, where he had the longest stay of his 36-year career.
Heisman turned Georgia Tech into a football power. His 1915, 1916, and 1917 teams were all unbeaten, contributing to a 32-game undefeated streak, including 2 ties. Tech outscored its opponents 1,592 to 62 during that stretch. Its 222-0 victory over Cumberland in 1916 is the highest score ever recorded.
In 16 seasons at Georgia Tech, Heisman had a 100-29-6 record. He returned to Pennsylvania as coach in 1920 and had a 16-10-2 record in 3 seasons there. After a 7-2-0 mark at Washington and Jefferson in 1923, he finished his coaching career with 4 seasons at Rice Institute, where he was 14-18-3.
One of the sport's chief innovators, Heisman developed one of the first shifts, which was named for him. He was probably the first coach to have both guards pull to lead an end run, a forerunner of the Green Bay Packer power sweep of the 1960s. And he may have been the first to have the center toss the ball back instead of rolling or kicking it, though others claimed that honor.
An early advocate of legalizing the forward pass, Heisman was also a proponent of dividing a game into quarters instead of halves. He was a founder and twice president of the American Football Coaches Association.
After retiring from coaching, he became athletic director of the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City. The club in 1935 began awarding a trophy to college football's outstanding player. After Heisman died in 1936, the award became known as the Heisman Memorial Trophy.
Football
b. Oct. 25, 1869, Cleveland, OH
d. Oct. 3, 1936
Heisman played football at Brown University from 1887 through 1889 and at the University of Pennsylvania in 1890 and 1891. He coached in 1892 at Oberlin College. It was only the second year of football at the school, but Heisman's team won all 7 of its games, including a victory over Michigan and two over Ohio State.
He was 5-2-0 at Akron University in 1893, returned to Oberlin for a 4-3-1 season in 1894, and then took over at Auburn University for 5 seasons, winning 12 games, losing 4, and tying 2.
In 1900, Heisman became coach at Clemson. His first team won all 6 of its games and he had a 19-3-2 record there in 4 seasons before moving on to Georgia Tech, where he had the longest stay of his 36-year career.
Heisman turned Georgia Tech into a football power. His 1915, 1916, and 1917 teams were all unbeaten, contributing to a 32-game undefeated streak, including 2 ties. Tech outscored its opponents 1,592 to 62 during that stretch. Its 222-0 victory over Cumberland in 1916 is the highest score ever recorded.
In 16 seasons at Georgia Tech, Heisman had a 100-29-6 record. He returned to Pennsylvania as coach in 1920 and had a 16-10-2 record in 3 seasons there. After a 7-2-0 mark at Washington and Jefferson in 1923, he finished his coaching career with 4 seasons at Rice Institute, where he was 14-18-3.
One of the sport's chief innovators, Heisman developed one of the first shifts, which was named for him. He was probably the first coach to have both guards pull to lead an end run, a forerunner of the Green Bay Packer power sweep of the 1960s. And he may have been the first to have the center toss the ball back instead of rolling or kicking it, though others claimed that honor.
An early advocate of legalizing the forward pass, Heisman was also a proponent of dividing a game into quarters instead of halves. He was a founder and twice president of the American Football Coaches Association.
After retiring from coaching, he became athletic director of the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City. The club in 1935 began awarding a trophy to college football's outstanding player. After Heisman died in 1936, the award became known as the Heisman Memorial Trophy.
