Howard Jones (football coach)

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Howard Harding Jones (August 23, 1885 - July 27, 1941) was an American college football coach at Syracuse (1908), Yale (1909, 1913), Ohio State (1910), Iowa (1916-23), Duke (1924), and Southern California (1925-40).

Contents

[edit] Background

Born in Excello, Ohio, Howard Jones played three seasons for Yale from 1905-1907. During his three years, Yale never lost a game, going 28-0-2. Yale claims national championships for all three seasons. After graduating in 1908, Jones became the head coach at Syracuse, leading the Orange to a 6-3-1 record before returning to Yale as the head coach. He led Yale to a 10-0 record in 1909, a season in which Yale claims another national championship. Yale's 15-0 victory of Syracuse in 1909 was significant in that it was the first time that two brothers had ever faced each other as opposing head coaches. Syracuse was then coached by Howard Jones' brother, Tad Jones.

After the 1909 season, Howard Jones served a one year stint as head football coach at Ohio State in 1910, leading the Buckeyes to a 6-1-3 record. Jones spent four of his next five years in private business, returning only to coach Yale to a 5-2-3 record in 1913. A lack of team talent drove him toward greener pastures, and he would eventually enjoy great success at Iowa and Southern California.

[edit] Iowa Coaching Career

Reed Lane, a businessman on the Iowa Athletic Board, was a classmate of Jones' when they both attended a Yale preparatory school. When Jesse Hawley left after the 1915 season, Iowa offered Jones a contract to become Iowa's 11th head football coach on the recommendation of Lane. Howard Jones accepted a five year contract at $4,500 annually, the longest commitment and most money ever offered to a coach at Iowa.

Jones' first two years were highlighted by a 67-0 loss to Minnesota in 1916 and a 47-0 loss to Nebraska in 1917. Jones vowed he would never lose by such scores again, and he didn't. Those were the two worst losses of his career. In 1918, Iowa defeated Minnesota for the first time in school history. It would be the first of five straight wins over Minnesota for Jones, and Nebraska never again scored a point on a Jones-coached team. [1]

The loss of Fred Becker hurt Iowa during that time. Becker was Iowa's first first team All-American as a sophomore in 1916. He could have been a potential star for Jones, but he played just one season before enlisting for the service with the outbreak of World War I. Becker was killed in combat just ten months after being named an All-American.

World War I altered the college football landscape. Eligibility rules were relaxed in the Big Ten Conference in 1918. Iowa's athletic director also left to serve in the war, so Jones was appointed to that position as well. Iowa's game with Coe College in 1918 was played with no fans in the stands, as public officials feared a flu epidemic. Iowa reportedly won, 27-0. In 1918 and 1919, Iowa fell just short of the Big Ten title, with losses to Illinois costing the Hawkeyes the crown in both seasons. Jones also coached the Iowa baseball team in 1919. In 1920, Iowa had the top two scorers in the Big Ten and finished with a 5-2 record.

Still, Iowa had not won a conference title in 21 years. All that changed in 1921, when Iowa finished with a perfect 7-0 record and won the Big Ten title outright. The most notable win of the season was a 10-7 triumph over Notre Dame. It was Howard Jones' first meeting with Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne. The win snapped a 20 game winning streak for Rockne and Notre Dame, which would be the longest winning streak of Rockne's career. One of the criticisms fans had of the previous Iowa coach, Jesse Hawley, was that he could not convince talented Iowa players to play at Iowa. Jones succeeded in that respect; the 1921 Hawkeyes started 11 native Iowans.

Despite the graduations of many key players, Iowa again posted a perfect 7-0 final record in 1922. Iowa again went 5-0 in the Big Ten, capturing its second straight Big Ten crown. It is the only time in Iowa history that the Hawkeyes have won consecutive conference titles. The most notable win of the 1922 season was a victory over Yale, then coached by Howard's brother, Tad. It was the first time a "western" team had ever defeated Yale in New Haven. [2] Iowa’s winning streak from 1920-1923 under Howard Jones lasted 20 games and almost three full years.

Howard Jones’ wife was not fond of Iowa City, and Jones demanded a new contract, which would allow him to coach and live in Iowa City only during football season. A conflict between Coach Jones and the chairman of the Athletics Board at Iowa contributed to the tension, and Jones eventually resigned as head coach and athletic director at Iowa. [3]

[edit] USC Coaching Career

Howard Jones coached in 1924 at Trinity College, now known as Duke University, before leaving for USC in 1925. In 16 seasons at USC, Jones coached seven Pacific Coast Conference Championship teams and four more national champions, and won each of the five Rose Bowls in which his Trojans played. In the 1920s, USC won two Rose Bowls -- in 1923 and 1930. Heading into the 1930 Rose Bowl Game, USC had defeated its crosstown rival UCLA 76-0 in their first meeting.

Moments before a USC-Stanford game, Jones visited the Stanford locker room and discovered Cardinal All-America halfback Bobby Grayson was nursing an injured knee. Jones returned to the USC quarters and instructed his players to avoid hitting Grayson in the crippled leg. They never did.

USC historian Al Wesson remarked, "Howard lived and breathed football. If it were not for football, he would have starved to death - couldn't possibly have made a living in business."

Wesson also recalled, "His assistants tried to get him to organize the practices and let them do most of the heavy work. He'd promise to do it, but after 15 minutes on the field, he'd be down on the ground showing them personally how to block, following every play on the dead run, and acting as though he were still playing end at Yale. He just couldn't relax and let others do the heavy work." [4]

[edit] Honors

All told, Jones' career record was 194-64-21, a .733 winning percentage, over 29 years at Syracuse, Yale, Ohio State, Iowa, Duke and Southern California.

Jones died at age 55 in Toluca Lake. He was a member of the College Football Hall of Fame's inaugural class of inductees in 1951.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Stadium Stories: Iowa Hawkeyes, by Buck Turnbull, Page 7 (ISBN 0-7627-3819-7)
  2. ^ 75 Years With The Fighting Hawkeyes, by Bert McCrane & Dick Lamb, Page 74 (ASIN: B0007E01F8)
  3. ^ 75 Years With The Fighting Hawkeyes, by Bert McCrane & Dick Lamb, Page 82 (ASIN: B0007E01F8)
  4. ^ Greatest Moments In Iowa Hawkeyes Football History, by Mark Dukes & Gus Schrader, Page 25 (ISBN 1-57243-261-6)

[edit] External links

Preceded by:
Frank O'Neill		 Syracuse University Head Football Coaches
1908		 Succeeded by:
T.A.D. Jones
Preceded by:
Albert E. Herrnstein		 Ohio State University Head Football Coaches
1910		 Succeeded by:
Harry Vaughn
Preceded by:
Arthur Howe		 Yale University Head Football Coaches
1913		 Succeeded by:
Frank Hinkey
Preceded by:
Jesse Hawley		 University of Iowa Head Football Coaches
1916-1923		 Succeeded by:
Burt Ingwersen
Preceded by:
S.M. Alexander		 Duke University Head Football Coaches
1924		 Succeeded by:
Pat Herron
Preceded by:
Gus Henderson		 University of Southern California head football coach
1925–1940		 Succeeded by:
Sam Barry


Syracuse Orange Head Football Coaches
Winston • Galbraith • Wells • Bond • Redington • Wade • Sweetland • Parish • Brown • Hutchins • O'Neill • Jones • Jones • Cummings • Hollenback • Meehan • Reynolds • Andreas • Hanson • Solem • Munn • Baysinger • Schwartzwalder • Maloney • MacPherson • Pasqualoni • Robinson
Ohio State Buckeyes Head Football Coaches
Lilley • Ryder • Hickey • Edwards • Eckstorm • Hale • Sweetland • Herrnstein • Jones • Vaughn • Richards • Wilce • Willaman • Schmidt • Brown • Widdoes • Bixler • Fesler • Hayes • Bruce • Cooper • Tressel
Iowa Hawkeyes Head Football Coaches
Knipe • Chalmers • Catlin • Griffith • Hawley • Jones • Ingwersen • Solem • Tubbs • Anderson • Madigan • Crowe • Raffensperger • Evashevski • Burns • Nagel • Lauterbur • Commings • Fry • Ferentz
Duke Blue Devils Head Football Coaches
Crowell • Egan • Baldwin • Steiner • Alexander • Jones • Herron • DeHart • Wade • Cameron • Wade • Murray • Harp • McGee • Wilson • Sloan • Spurrier • Wilson • Goldsmith • Franks • Roof
USC Trojans Head Football Coaches
Goddard • Suffel • Freeman • Tappaan • Walker • Holmes • Traeger • Cromwell • Glaze • Cromwell • Henderson • Jones • Barry • Cravath • Hill • Clark • McKay • Robinson • Tollner • Smith • Robinson • Hackett • Carroll
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