John Heisman

John Heisman
Heisman in his late forties at the Georgia Institute of Technology
Heisman at Georgia Tech circa 1918
Biographical details
Born(1869-10-23)October 23, 1869
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
DiedOctober 3, 1936(1936-10-03) (aged 66)
New York, New York, U.S.
Playing career
Football
1887–1888Brown
1889–1891Penn
Position(s)Center, tackle, end
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1892Oberlin
1893–1894Buchtel
1894Oberlin
1895–1899Auburn
1900–1903Clemson
1904–1919Georgia Tech
1920–1922Penn
1923Washington & Jefferson
1924–1927Rice
Basketball
1908–1909Georgia Tech
1912–1914Georgia Tech
Baseball
1894Buchtel
1901–1903Clemson
1904–1917Georgia Tech
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1904–1919Georgia Tech
1924–1927Rice
Head coaching record
Overall186–70–18 (football)
9–14 (basketball)
199–108–7 (baseball)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Football
1 national (1917)
7 SIAA (1900, 1902–1903, 1915–1918)

Baseball
SIAA (1906)
College Football Hall of Fame
Inducted in 1954 (profile)

John William Heisman (/ˈhzmən/ HYZE-mən; October 23, 1869 – October 3, 1936) was a player and coach of American football, baseball, and basketball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College, Buchtel College (now known as the University of Akron), Auburn University, Clemson University, Georgia Tech, the University of Pennsylvania, Washington & Jefferson College, and Rice University, compiling a career college football record of 186–70–18.

Heisman was also the head basketball coach at Georgia Tech, tallying a mark of 9–14, and the head baseball coach at Buchtel, Clemson, and Georgia Tech, amassing a career college baseball record of 199–108–7. He served as the athletic director at Georgia Tech and Rice. While at Georgia Tech, he was also the president of the Atlanta Crackers baseball team.

Sportswriter Fuzzy Woodruff dubbed Heisman the "pioneer of Southern football".[1] He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1954. His entry there notes that Heisman "stands only behind Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, and Walter Camp as a master innovator of the brand of football of his day".[2] He was instrumental in several changes to the game, including legalizing the forward pass. The Heisman Trophy, awarded annually to the season's most outstanding college football player, is named after him.

  1. ^ Woodruff 1928b, p. 32
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference nff was invoked but never defined (see the help page).