Donald Burrows Faurot (June 23, 1902 – October 19, 1995) was an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
and
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
player, coach, and college athletics administrator best known for his eight-decade association with the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...
. He served as the head football coach at Northeast Missouri State Teachers College—commonly known at the time as Kirksville State Teachers College and now known as
Truman State University
Truman State University (TSU or Truman) is a public university in Kirksville, Missouri. It had 4,225 enrolled students in the fall of 2021 pursuing degrees in 52 undergraduate and 11 graduate programs.
The university is named for U.S. Presid ...
—from 1926 to 1934 and at Missouri from 1935 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1956. During World War II, Faurot coached the
Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks in 1943 and the football team at
Naval Air Station Jacksonville
Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NAS Jacksonville) is a large naval air station located approximately eight miles (13 km) south of the central business district of Jacksonville, Florida, United States., effective 2007-10-25
Location
NAS Jac ...
in 1944. He was also the head basketball coach at Kirksville State from 1925 to 1934, tallying a mark of 92–74. Faurot was the
athletic director
An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...
at Missouri from 1935 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1967. He lettered in three sports at Missouri in the early 1920s: in football, as a
halfback, basketball and
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
.
Faurot is credited with inventing the
split-T
The split-T is an offensive formation in American football that was popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Developed by Missouri Tigers head coach Don Faurot as a variation on the T formation, the split-T was first used in the 1941 season and allowed the ...
formation. He was inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1961. The playing surface as Missouri's Memorial Stadium was named
Faurot Field
Faurot Field ( , ) at Memorial Stadium is an outdoor sports stadium in Columbia, Missouri, United States, on the campus of the University of Missouri. It is primarily used for football and serves as the home field for the Missouri Tigers' progra ...
in his honor in 1972.
Early life and playing career
Faurot was born in
Mountain Grove, Missouri
Mountain Grove is a city in Wright County and Texas County in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies within the Ozarks in the south-central part of the state. The population was 4,313 at the 2020 census.
History
A post office called Mountain Grov ...
on June 23, 1902 to parents Frederick W. Faurot and Charlotte Burrows Faurot. He lost two fingers on his right hand in a boyhood farming accident, yet still became an accomplished multi-sport athlete.
The Life of Don Faurot
/ref>
Faurot's association with the University of Missouri started when he was a young boy who would sneak into Rollins Field
Rollins Field was a stadium in Columbia, Missouri. It hosted the University of Missouri Tigers football team until they moved to Memorial Stadium in 1926. The stadium held 13,000 people at its peak. It hosted the first homecoming
Homecomin ...
to watch the Tigers
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...
play and practice. He was the eldest of four brothers to win a football letter
Letter, letters, or literature may refer to:
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* Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet.
* Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...
at Missouri. Faurot was a three-sport letterman
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* Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States
People
* David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host
** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...
from 1922 to 1924. A lightweight 145-pound fullback in football, he also captained the basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
team and was an infielder in baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
. He was a member of FarmHouse fraternity while attending the University of Missouri.
Coaching career
Kirksville State
After college, Faurot was appointed head coach at Kirksville State Teachers College (now Truman State University
Truman State University (TSU or Truman) is a public university in Kirksville, Missouri. It had 4,225 enrolled students in the fall of 2021 pursuing degrees in 52 undergraduate and 11 graduate programs.
The university is named for U.S. Presid ...
), 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. During the run the team was the MIAA champion in 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1932, 1933 and 1934. He also coached the basketball team to the 1927 MIAA championship. In 1933, he led KSTC to a 26–6 win against Missouri in Columbia. This win, along with his MIAA conference titles in 1933 and 1934 led to the offering of the head coaching position at Missouri following the 1934 season.
Missouri
Even while coaching at Kirksville State, Faurot remained close to Mizzou. As a graduate student
Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree.
The organization and s ...
in agriculture in 1926, Faurot helped lay the sod for Missouri's new Memorial Stadium in 1926. In 1935, Faurot returned to his alma mater as head coach and athletic director
An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...
, titles he retained until 1956 except for three years of service in the United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
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 major contributions were two-fold: retiring the $500,000 debt through scheduling Ohio State over 9 of 11 years (losing all of them) and to football through his innovation of the Split-T
The split-T is an offensive formation in American football that was popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Developed by Missouri Tigers head coach Don Faurot as a variation on the T formation, the split-T was first used in the 1941 season and allowed the ...
offense at Mizzou in 1941. In the post-World War II era, many coaches adopted the Faurot formation—most notably, Bud Wilkinson and Jim Tatum
Jim or JIM may refer to:
* Jim (given name), a given name
* Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James
* Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy
* OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism
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* ''Jim ...
, who learned the offense first-hand while serving as his assistant coaches with the Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks during World War II. 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
Wishbone commonly refers to:
* Furcula, a fork-shaped bone in birds and some dinosaurs
Wishbone may also refer to:
* Wish-Bone, an American salad dressing and condiment company
* Wishbone formation, a type of offense in American football
* Wish ...
, Wingbone, Veer
The Veer is an option running play often associated with option offenses in American football, made famous at the collegiate level by Bill Yeoman's Houston Cougars. It is currently run primarily on the high school level, with some usage at the ...
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, a record that remained unmatched until coach Gary Pinkel
Gary Robin Pinkel (born April 27, 1952) is a former American college football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Toledo from 1991 to 2000 and the University of Missouri from 2001 to 2015, compiling career record ...
passed him in 2013. His 1939 team, featuring All-America
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
n Paul Christman
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
* Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
, won Faurot's first Big Six Conference
The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associat ...
title and a bid to the Orange Bowl
The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game ...
. His 1941 team also won the Big 6 title after a 45–6 drubbing of Kansas, and played in the Sugar Bowl. After a last-second win against arch-rival Kansas in 1956, he stepped down as head coach to concentrate on his duties as athletic director. Under him, the Tigers won three conference titles and went to four bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...
s. When he retired as athletic director in 1967, the program was in the black and Memorial Stadium's capacity had doubled to more than 50,000 through five different expansions.
Honors
Faurot is a member of the National Football Foundation
The National Football Foundation (NFF) is a non-profit organization to promote and develop amateur American football on all levels throughout the United States and "developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the dr ...
's College Football Hall of Fame, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame
The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is located in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1994 by Springfield businessman John Q. Hammons, the Hall of Fame is housed in a two-story, 32,000-square-foot building. On display are more than 4, ...
, 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
The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...
, and recipient of the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award
:''There is a separate " Amos Alonzo Stagg Coaching Award".
The Amos Alonzo Stagg Award is presented annually by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) to the "individual, group or institution whose services have been outstanding in t ...
for his distinguished service in the advancement of the best interests of football.
In 1972, the playing surface at Memorial Stadium was officially named Faurot Field
Faurot Field ( , ) at Memorial Stadium is an outdoor sports stadium in Columbia, Missouri, United States, on the campus of the University of Missouri. It is primarily used for football and serves as the home field for the Missouri Tigers' progra ...
in his honor.
Though he stepped down as athletic director in 1967, Faurot never really found a way to retire. He maintained an office at the Tom Taylor Building where he spent several hours nearly every day, and was a regular attendee at football practice until shortly before his death. In 1995, he placed the final square of sod as MU successfully converted Faurot Field back to natural grass. Through 1994, Faurot was active as a talent procurer and coach for the annual Blue–Gray Football Classic
The Blue–Gray Football Classic was an annual American college football all-star game held in Alabama, usually in late December and often on Christmas Day. The brainchild of Alabama college football legend Champ Pickens, the contest began in ...
in Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...
. 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.
He died October 19, 1995 in Columbia, the week of the MU Homecoming. He was 93 years old. Apart from his stint in Kirksville and his wartime service, he spent all of his adult life associated with MU in some capacity.
Head coaching record
Football
See also
*
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faurot, Don
1902 births
1995 deaths
American men's basketball players
American football halfbacks
Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks football coaches
Missouri Tigers athletic directors
Missouri Tigers baseball players
Missouri Tigers football coaches
Missouri Tigers football players
Missouri Tigers men's basketball players
Truman Bulldogs football coaches
Truman Bulldogs men's basketball coaches
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
United States Navy personnel of World War II
People from Mountain Grove, Missouri
Coaches of American football from Missouri
Players of American football from Missouri
Basketball coaches from Missouri