Saturday, 21 December 2024

John Heisman

Contest: The US Athletic Hall of Fame - Coaches 2024
Embed from Getty Images
Sport(s): Football & Baseball
Statistics: 1 NCAA National Championship (1917)
7 SIAA Championships (1900, 1902, 1903, 1915, 1916, 1917 & 1918)
1 SIAA Championship (Baseball) (1906)
186-70-18 NCAA Football Record
199-108-7 NCAA Baseball Record
9-14 NCAA Basketball Record
Member of the College Football Hall of Fame
So much of what we see in football today can be attributed to John Heisman, whose contributions as a coach and innovator are ingrained in the game.

Beginning his coaching career at Oberlin, and would later take over the reins at Auburn and Clemson before joining Georgia Tech in 1904. With the Yellow Jackets, Heisman had his most significant success and earned the moniker later in life as the "Pioneer of Southern Football."

A brilliant strategist, Heisman developed shifts. Heisman was also an early advocate of the forward pass and helped to make it legal. Heisman led Clemson to the SIAA Title in 1900, but he won six more at Georgia Tech, including four straight, from 1915 to 1918.

Heisman left in 1919, and he would later coach at Penn, Washington & Jefferson, and Rice. Heisman was also a successful baseball coach who won an SIAA title with Georgia Tech in 1906.

In 1936, two months after he died, the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy which is awarded annually to the best player in college football, was renamed the Heisman Trophy. That name change alone made Heisman immortal.

We are proud to nominate John Heisman for the United States Athletic Hall of Fame.

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