William Enoch Fincher (November 12, 1896 – July 17, 1978) was an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

player and coach. He played the end and tackle positions for the

Georgia Tech Golden Tornado football The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Football Program represents the Georgia Institute of Technology in the NCAA Division 1 Collegiate Competitors in the sport of American football. The Yellow Jackets college football team competes in the NCAA Div ...

team of the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. Fincher was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

as a player in 1974.

Early years

Fincher was born in

Spring Place, Georgia Spring Place (also Poinset, Springplace) is an unincorporated community in Murray County, Georgia, United States. History A post office was established at Spring Place in 1826. The community took its name from Spring Place Mission, a nearby Nativ ...

. He attended old Tech High School in Atlanta.

Georgia Tech

Fincher attended

, graduating with a mechanical engineering degree in 1921. At school, he played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, basketball, and ran

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

. He was a prominent tackle and end for the

teams. Fincher could play any position on the

line Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...

in the complicated

Heisman shift The jump shift or Heisman shift, was an American football shift maneuver utilized by John Heisman. In this system, only the center was on the line of scrimmage, and the backfield would be in a line, as one would in an I-formation with an extra ...

offense. He made a record 122 of 136 PAT attempts. He stood 6 feet tall and weighed 182 pounds. He was nominated though not selected for an ''Associated Press'' All-Time Southeast 1869–1919 era team. Fincher had a glass eye which he would covertly pull out after feigning an injury, turn to his opponents and say: "So that's how you want to play!"

1916

Fincher was a substitute for the 222 to 0 rout of

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...

1917

He was a starter for the

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

national championship team. The 1917 team was Tech's first national championship and outscored opponents 491 to 17, and for many years it was considered the greatest football team the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

ever produced. Fincher kicked 49 extra points.

1918

He was a consensus All-American in

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

, a year in which he was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

1920

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

he made Walter Camp's first team All-American, a rarity for a player from the South. One writer said Fincher "seemingly ate ten-penny nails" and "was the 'meanest' lineman I ever witnessed in action." A story goes that he sought to knock Bo McMillin out of the Centre–Tech game, taking with him

brass-knuckles Brass knuckles (variously referred to as knuckles, knucks, brass knucks, knucklebusters, knuckledusters, knuckle daggers, English punch, iron fist, paperweight, or a classic) are "fist-load weapons" used in hand-to-hand combat. Brass knuckle ...

or "something equally diabolical." Before the game, Fincher said "You're a great player Bo...I feel awful sorry about it because you are not going to be in there very long—about three minutes." Fincher also once held a charging Model-T for no gain. The yearbook remarks "Bill began his great work on the sand lots of Tech Hi here in Atlanta years ago and ended it up by smearing "Fatty" Warren of the Auburn Tigers all over the flats of Grant Field on Turkey Day last."

Coaching

Fincher was head coach of a college football team for one season. In 1921, he led the William & Mary Indians football team to a 4–3–1 record. In 1925, he joined Georgia Tech's coaching staff as a line coach, replacing

Fay Wood Fay F. Wood was a college football player and coach. A native of Syracuse, he played for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish as an end from 1907 to 1909, catching the first touchdown pass in the history of Notre Dame football. He was later the line co ...

. He was still a line coach for the school through 1927.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fincher, Bill 1896 births 1978 deaths American football ends American football placekickers American football tackles Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football coaches Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players William & Mary Tribe football coaches All-American college football players All-Southern college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Murray County, Georgia Coaches of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Players of American football from Atlanta