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19 - John Heisman Won 19 Games as Clemson Head Coach

Aug 12, 2024, 4:33 AM

Before John Wilhelm Heisman became a household name, he elevated Clemson football and baseball into powerhouse programs. Heisman only coached in God’s Country for four years, but during that time he enjoyed tremendous success.

He also played a great trick on his future employer, Georgia Tech!

Before Clemson:

Heisman played football at Brown University and at the University of Pennsylvania. He also played baseball at Penn. According to Wikipedia:

“Heisman graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1892. Due to poor eyesight, he took his exams orally.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Heisman

Between 1892 and 1899, Heisman coached four stops at three different schools:
- 1892: Oberlin; 1893-1894: Buchtel; 1894: Oberlin; and 1895-1899: Auburn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Heisman

While at Clemson:

Starting in 1900, John Heisman coached Clemson football and baseball. According to ClemsonTigers.com:

“It did not take long for Heisman to whip the Tigers into shape, as Clemson finished the 1900 season with a 6-0 record, a campaign that included wins over Alabama (35-0), Georgia (39-5) and South Carolina (51-0). It was the first undefeated season in Tiger history, and it was the school’s first conference championship, as Clemson won the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
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The 1901 season included a 122-0 win over Guilford, still the largest margin of victory in Tiger history. Clemson averaged 30 yards per play and scored a touchdown every 26 seconds in a game that saw just 30 minutes of playing time.

Heisman coached Clemson to two more conference titles in 1902 and 1903. The 1902 season included an 11-0 victory over Tennessee, a game played in the snow that clinched the SIAA championship.

The 1903 season included victories over Georgia and Georgia Tech. After Clemson’s 29-0 win over Georgia, the Bulldogs made a deal with Heisman that they would give Clemson one bushel of apples for every point it beat Georgia Tech above their 29-point margin recorded against the Bulldogs.

Heisman and his Tigers must have loved apple pie, because they went on to beat the Yellow Jackets 73-0. Clemson had a school-record 615 yards on 55 carries in that game. That winter, Georgia sent Clemson 44 bushels of apples.”

https://clemsontigers.com/john-heisman-2023-program-story/

Overall, Heisman led Clemson to excellence! According to ClemsonWiki:

“In his four seasons at the Tigers' helm, he coached 24 games for a 19-3-2 overall record, and an .833 percentage, the best in Clemson football history. He was undefeated at Clemson by Alabama, Auburn, Davidson, Furman, Georgia (four times!), Georgia Tech, Guilford, North Carolina A&M, and Wofford.”

https://clemsonwiki.com/wiki/John_Heisman

After Clemson, Heisman coached for more than a decade at Ga Tech. He also coached at Penn, Washington & Jefferson, and Rice.

Heisman’s Impact on College Football:

John Heisman reshaped college football long before NIL and the transfer portal left their marks. According to Tigernet:

“He invented the hidden ball trick, the handoff, the double lateral, and the "Flea flicker." He pioneered the forward pass, and originated the center snap and the word "hike" (previously the center used to roll the ball on the ground to the quarterback).”

https://www.tigernet.com/football/history/heisman.jsp

According to Heisman.com, Heisman literally “wrote the book” on college football:

“During his coaching career, Heisman changed the face of the game that became America’s passion. What he considered his greatest contribution, the forward pass, was legalized in 1906, after three years of writing and pestering Walter Camp and the rules committee. Much of the official rule book of the day adopted Heisman’s suggestions word for word.”

https://www.heisman.com/about-the-heisman/john-w-heisman/

Heisman stories at Clemson:

Coming back to Heisman’s time at Clemson, there are multiple great stories about Coach Heisman in God’s Country. According to ClemsonTigers.com:

“Clemson was a powerhouse during his tenure and was a most-feared opponent. His secret was that he depended on smart, quick players rather than larger-sized men.

Another favorite Heisman story was the speech he used to make before a season began. Heisman would face his players holding a football. “What is this?” he would sharply ask. Then he would tell his players “a football was a prolate spheroid, an elongated sphere, in which the outer leather casing is drawn up tightly over a somewhat smaller rubber tubing.” Then after a long pause he would say, “Better to have died as a small boy than to fumble this football.”

https://clemsontigers.com/heismans-high-jinks/

** And my personal favorite:

According to ClemsonTigers.com:

In 1902, John Heisman played the trick of all tricks on Georgia Tech and their followers. “We had already won a couple of games, and word drifted to Clemson that Georgia Tech would spare nothing to beat us,” said Heisman. “When the train with the Clemson team and baggage arrived in Atlanta the day before the game, the Tech supporters made it a point to entertain our players royally.”

Heisman told the Clemson players arriving in downtown Atlanta on Friday night to enjoy themselves and live it up and pretend as though they were the Clemson Varsity Team. “The Tech supporters marveled at the ease with which they were able to get our players to sneak out that night and participate in the wild parties around town. There was quite a lot of eating and drinking and the more the Clemson men indulged in such [a] pastime the more were the Tech men willing to back with money their belief that they would win the next day.” Word got back to the Georgia Tech players that the Clemson players were living it up in the big city of Atlanta. There would be no way the Tigers would be ready to play. They knew they would beat Clemson now.

The Heisman ploy worked. Georgia Tech thought they had the game won. The Yellow Jackets must have thought, the only thing they had to do was show up. They must have let their guard down. After the game everyone was in shock. Clemson was easy victors in a 44-5 contest. How could this happen? How could the Tigers stay out and carouse around town all night and be ready to play the next day?

The Tech players and supporters and wondered and marveled at the hardiness of the Clemson men after a night of revelry. How did they do it? This was unreal! They later discovered that Coach Heisman had sent a bunch of bohunks (today known as redshirts), reserves and scrub players to Atlanta with the team’s equipment and kept the varsity and the starters at Lula, Ga., a small town some few miles northeast of Atlanta, the night before the game. The real Clemson varsity team got a good night’s sleep before the game and were ready to play the next day. “Boy did the Tech supporters that gambled lose a lot of money!” said Heisman.

https://clemsontigers.com/heismans-high-jinks/

** Absolutely LOVE IT! **

According to Wikipedia, this picture of Heisman is specifically from his Clemson days:

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Clemson: Academic Excellence! Athletic Excellence!

While at Clemson:

Sports Illustrated praised Jeff Bryant as one of Clemson’s football greats:

Jeff Bryant (1978-1981)

Bryant is often forgotten due to playing alongside the likes of William Perry, Jeff Davis and Terry Kinard on Clemson’s 1981 championship team. By his senior season, he was the leader of a defense that allowed less than 100 yards rushing per game and allowed a stingy 8.2 points per opponent. Tallied a team-best 19 tackles for loss during the national championship season.

https://www.si.com/college/clemson/football/building-an-all-time-clemson-team

A separate Sports Illustrated article ranked Jeff Bryant as Tied for the 10th best DL in Clemson history:

10. (T) Jeff Bryant DE/DT (1978-81)

Bryant was an integral part of the defensive front on the Tigers first national title team in 1981. At 6-foot-5, 270 pounds, Bryant played at end and tackle and would eventually go on to be taken sixth overall by the Seattle Seahawks in the 1982 NFL Draft, where he spent 12 years amassing 63 sacks.

https://www.si.com/college/clemson/football/clemson-football-ten-best-defensive-linemen-all-time

ClemsonTigers.com described Bryant’s Clemson career as follows:

“A freshman in 1978, he was a key reserve on Clemson’s 11-1 team that defeated Ohio State in the Gator Bowl. By the time he was a senior in 1981, Bryant was the leader of the Tiger defensive line that allowed opponents just 89 yards per game on the ground and just 8.2 points per game.

Bryant had 19 tackles for loss in 1981, and eight of those were sacks, best on Clemson’s National Championship team. He was a second-team All-American and first-team All-ACC selection that year.”

https://clemsontigers.com/greatest-players-of-the-20th-century/

As mentioned above, DL Jeff Bryant played a key role in Clemson’s 1981 National Championship. GoUpstate.com reported a critical play Bryant made in #2 Clemson’s game at #8 UNC:

“All of the tension in Clemson's desperate hour was expelled 57 seconds from game's end in one slow and confusing play.

For at that moment, Clemson defensive end Jeff Bryant plopped his large body on a fumbled lateral pass, saving Clemson's 10-8 victory Saturday afternoon before 53, 611 eyewitnesses in Kenan Stadium.
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North Carolina had advanced the ball from its 2 to the 40 with 1:06 remaining. The Tar Heels were driving for field position, driving for a winning field goal.

Quarterback Scott Stankavage dropped back, dropped back some more and lobbed a screen pass to fullback Alan Burrus. Burrus could not handle the pass, but there was no whistle or signal from the nearest official. The ball was a fumbled lateral. Defensive end Bill Smith (Byrnes) pinned Burrus to the ground, and Byrant recovered for Clemson.”

https://www.goupstate.com/story/news/2006/11/08/title-in-tiger-town-week-10-whew-clemson-holds-off-unc-10-8/29382218007/

After Clemson:

The Seattle Seahawks selected Jeff Bryant with the 6th Pick (1st Round) of the 1982 NFL Draft. He played 12 NFL seasons (1982-1993) with the Seattle Seahawks. NotInHallofFame describes his long NFL career as follows:

“While Bryant was never a Pro Bowl Selection, he was a defensive anchor for the Seahawks, starting 167 Games and playing for Seattle for his entire 12-year career. Bryant evolved into a strong pass-rusher, taking down the opposing quarterback 63 times. His best season was 1984 when he had 14.5 Sacks, which was good enough for sixth that year.”

https://www.notinhalloffame.com/football/top-50-football-players-by-franchise/top-50-seattle-seahawks/12206-30-jeff-bryant

Jeff Bryant was inducted into Clemson’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996!

Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!***

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!***

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!***

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Nice Tug!***

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Thanks, O.J.!

me too

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

OJ

O.J. is like Bigfoot or the Abominable Snowman

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Go Tigers !***

19 - John Heisman Won 19 Games as Clemson Head Coach

Re: 19 - John Heisman Won 19 Games as Clemson Head Coach

Re: 19 - John Heisman Won 19 Games as Clemson Head Coach

Re: 19 - John Heisman Won 19 Games as Clemson Head Coach

19 - Jeff Bryant Made 19 Tackles for Loss in Clemsons 1981 Title Season

Re: 19 - Jeff Bryant Made 19 Tackles for Loss in Clemsons 1981 Title Season

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...19 days!!!

Beat Georgia!!!

Re: Beat Georgia!!!

Re: Beat Georgia!!!

Re: Beat Georgia!!!

Slowly but Shirley!!! We're getting there!!