On This Day In Alabama History: John Heisman, Who Coached At Auburn, Was Born

By Alabama NewsCenter Staff

October 23, 1869: John Heisman, a legendary college football coach and innovator for whom the annual award for the sport’s best player is named, was born in Cleveland, Ohio. A multi-sport star in college, he decided to pursue a career as a coach after earning a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. As a coach at Oberlin College, Buchtel, the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama (now Auburn), Clemson, Georgia Tech (where he won a national championship), Pennsylvania, Washington and Jefferson and Rice, his overall record was 185-70-18. He introduced numerous innovations, including the hidden-ball play, the handoff, double lateral, flea-flicker and the center-to-quarterback direct snap. He also helped popularize the forward pass. After retirement, Heisman became director of athletics at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York, which named the annual award for best college football player in his honor after he died in 1936.

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