John Heisman

John Heisman

Heisman at Georgia Tech circa 1918
Biographical details
Born	(1869-10-23)October 23, 1869 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Died	October 3, 1936(1936-10-03) (aged 66) New York, New York, U.S.
Playing career
Football
1887–1888	Brown
1889–1891	Penn
Position(s)	Center, tackle, end
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1892	Oberlin
1893–1894	Buchtel
1894	Oberlin
1895–1899	Auburn
1900–1903	Clemson
1904–1919	Georgia Tech
1920–1922	Penn
1923	Washington & Jefferson
1924–1927	Rice
Basketball
1908–1909	Georgia Tech
1912–1914	Georgia Tech
Baseball
1894	Buchtel
1901–1903	Clemson
1904–1917	Georgia Tech
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1904–1919	Georgia Tech
1924–1927	Rice
Head coaching record
Overall	186–70–18 (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 (/ˈhaɪzmən/ 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.