Heisman, John

Heisman, John

▪ American coach
in full  John William Heisman 
born October 23, 1869, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
died October 3, 1936, New York, New York

      U.S. collegiate gridiron football (football, gridiron) coach for 36 years and one of the greatest innovators of the game. He was responsible for legalizing the forward pass in 1906, and he originated the centre snap and the “hike,” or “hep,” count signals shouted by the quarterback in starting play. He was also the first coach to use the hidden ball play (later outlawed, it involved a player's hiding the ball under his jersey), the double pass, interference on end runs, and the Heisman shift (a precursor of the T formation). He also promoted the division of game halves into quarters.

      Heisman played tackle for Brown University (1887–89) and centre and tackle for the University of Pennsylvania (1890–91), where he earned a law degree. He coached football at Oberlin College (1892, 1894) in Ohio before moving to the southern United States, where he coached at several universities. During his tenure at the Georgia Institute of Technology (1904–19), the team won 101 games against 28 losses and 6 ties and went three consecutive seasons without a loss (1915–17). During his entire coaching career, Heisman's teams won 185 games, lost 68, and tied 18.

      Heisman was also a Shakespearean actor, and he gained a reputation for using polysyllabic language in coaching; the football, for example, was a “prolate spheroid.” Heisman left coaching to become director of the Downtown Athletic Club of New York City. Beginning in 1935, the club annually awarded a trophy, known since 1936 as the Heisman Trophy, to the top college football player.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Heisman, John (William) — born Oct. 23, 1869, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. died Oct. 3, 1936, New York City, N.Y. U.S. collegiate gridiron football coach and one of the game s greatest innovators. Heisman played football for both Brown University and the University of… …   Universalium

  • Heisman, John (William) — (23 oct. 1869, Cleveland, Ohio, EE.UU.–3 oct. 1936, Nueva York, N.Y.). Entrenador estadounidense de fútbol americano y uno de los grandes innovadores de este deporte. Jugó en la Universidad de Brown y en la Universidad de Pensilvania. Fue… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • John Heisman — College coach infobox Name = John W. Heisman ImageWidth = Caption = John W. Heisman DateOfBirth = birth date|1869|10|23|mf=y Birthplace = Cleveland, Ohio DateOfDeath = Death date and age|1936|10|3|1869|10|23 Sport = Football College = Title =… …   Wikipedia

  • Heisman Trophy — Annual award given to the outstanding college gridiron football player in the U.S. The trophy was instituted in 1935 by New York City s Downtown Athletic Club and was officially named the following year for the club s first athletic director, the …   Universalium

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  • John Huarte — John Gregory Huarte (* 6. April 1944 in Anaheim) ist ein ehemaliger amerikanischer American Football Spieler. Er war zwischen 1962 und 1964 im College Football als Quarterback für die Fighting Irish der University of Notre Dame aktiv und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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