Don Faurot

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Don Faurot (June 23, 1902 – October 19, 1995) was the head football coach at the University of Missouri from 1935 to 1956 and is credited with inventing the split-T formation. Faurot Field at Missouri's Memorial Stadium is named in his honor.

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[edit] Early Life

Don Faurot was born in Mountain Grove, Missouri, on June 23, 1902, and despite losing the first two fingers on his right hand in a boyhood farming accident, he became an accomplished athlete. Faurot’s association with the University of Missouri started when he was a young boy who would sneak into old Rollins Field to watch the Tigers play and practice. He was the eldest of four brothers to win a football letter at MU. Faurot was a three-sport letterman from 1922-1924. A lightweight 145-pound fullback in football, he also captained the basketball team and was an infielder in baseball.

[edit] Kirksville State Teachers College

After college, Faurot was appointed head coach at Kirksville State Teachers College (now Truman State University), where he spent nine years, from 1926 through 1934, with a record of 63 wins, 13 losses and 3 ties. From 1932 to 1934, his teams had a 26-0 record, the best small-college record in the country.

[edit] University of Missouri

In 1935, Faurot was named head coach of the Missouri Tigers, where he would remain until 1956 - with three years out for service in the U.S. Navy during World War II. At Missouri, he took over a team that had won only two games in three years and with the athletic program over $500,000 in debt. His prime contribution to football was his innovation of the Split-T formation at Mizzou in 1941. In the post-World War II era, countless universities adopted the Faurot formation — and more than 60 years later, it is still in vogue today at all levels of football. Several of football’s most notable formations — the Wishbone, Wingbone, Veer or I-attack and others — utilize Faurot’s option play as their basic concept.

In 19 years as the Tiger football coach, Faurot’s record was 101 wins, 79 losses and 10 ties. His 1939 team, featuring All American Paul Christman, won Faurot’s first Big Six title and a bid to the Orange Bowl. His 1941 team also won the Big 6 and played in the Sugar Bowl. In 1956, he stepped down as head coach and became athletic director. Under him, the Tigers won three conference titles and went to four bowl games. When he retired as athletic director in 1967, the program was in the black and the capacity of the football stadium's capacity had doubled to more than 50,000.

[edit] Honors

Faurot was a member of the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, the University of Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame, the Orange Bowl Hall of Honor, the Blue-Gray Game Hall of Fame, past president of the American Football Coaches Association, and recipient of the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award for his distinguished service in the advancement of the best interests of football. In 1972, the Tigers’ football playing surface was officially named Faurot Field — something he said probably rated as his greatest personal honor. As a graduate student in agriculture in 1926, Faurot helped lay the sod on the field, prior to the opening of Memorial Stadium that fall. In 1995, he placed the final square of sod as MU successfully converted the stadium’s floor back to natural grass. Right up through 1994, Faurot was active as a talent procurer and coach for the annual Blue-Gray Football Classic in Montgomery, Alabama He was secretary of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame for many years, and was also the executive secretary of the Missouri Senior Golf Association. He spent a term after his retirement as assistant director in charge of special events for the MU Alumni Association. Though he stepped down as athletic director in 1967, he never really found a way to retire, maintaining an office at the Tom Taylor Building where he spent several hours nearly every day. He was a regular attendee at football practice until shortly before his death. He died Oct. 19, 1995 in Columbia, the week of the MU Homecoming. He was 93 years old.

[edit] Head coaching record

In his Missouri career, Faurot’s record was 101 wins, 79 losses and 10 ties, winning three conference titles and going to four bowl games.

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl Rank#
Kirksville State Teachers College (Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Assn.) (1926 – 1934)
1926 Kirksville State 7-1
1927 Kirksville State 8-1
1928 Kirksville State 7-2-1
1929 Kirksville State 5-3-1
1930 Kirksville State 5-5
1931 Kirksville State 6-1-1
1932 Kirksville State 8-0
1933 Kirksville State 9-0
1934 Kirksville State 8-0
Kirksville State: 63-13-3
University of Missouri Tigers (Big Eight Conference) (1935 – 1956)
1935 Missouri 3-3-3
1936 Missouri 6-2-1
1937 Missouri 3-6-1
1938 Missouri 6-3
1939 Missouri 8-2 1
1940 Missouri 6-3
1941 Missouri 8-2 1
1942 Missouri 8-3-1
1946 Missouri 5-4-1
1947 Missouri 6-4
1948 Missouri 8-3
1949 Missouri 7-4
1950 Missouri 4-5-1
1951 Missouri 2-8
1952 Missouri 5-5
1953 Missouri 6-4
1954 Missouri 4-5-1
1955 Missouri 1-9
1956 Missouri 4-5-1
Missouri Tigers: 101-79-10
Total: 164-92-13
      National Championship         Conference Title         Conference Division Title
†Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll of the season.


[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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