Joel White Guyn Jr. (April 23, 1883 – April 15, 1953) 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 ...

coach and city engineer. He served as the head coach at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

from 1906 to 1908. Guyn was the city engineer of

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

for 31 years.

Early life

Guyn attended the

, where he played on the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

from 1901 to 1905, and in 1905, served as its captain. Guyn played on the

basketball team 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 ...

in 1904. He was a member of

Pi Kappa Alpha Pi Kappa Alpha (), commonly known as PIKE, is a college fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1868. The fraternity has over 225 chapters and colonies across the United States and abroad with over 15,500 undergraduate members over 30 ...

Coaching career

After he graduated, the university appointed Guyn as the team's head coach, a post he held without remuneration.Gregory Kent Stanley
''Before Big Blue: Sports at the University of Kentucky, 1880–1940''
pp. 43–48, University Press of Kentucky, 1996, . Upon his hiring, the school yearbook, ''The Kentuckian'', wrote, "Previous to the year 1906, State had secured foot ball coaches from the North, South, East, and West ... When the authorities began the task of selecting a man to train the squad of '06, they felt that among the alumni we had warriors just as capable as those sent forth from the great gridirons of the North and East." Before the 1906 season, the ''

Lexington Herald The ''Lexington Herald-Leader'' is a newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and based in Lexington, Kentucky. According to the ''1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook'', the paid circulation of the ''Herald-Leader'' is the second larg ...

'' feared that financial difficulties would prevent Kentucky and

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

, its traditional

Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden a ...

intrastate rival, from fielding football teams. While Transylvania did indeed temporarily disband its team, Kentucky was able to maintain a squad. In his first season, Guyn arranged to play

Centre College Centre College is a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky. It is an undergraduate college with an enrollment of approximately 1,400 students. Centre was officially chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819. The college is ...

in Lexington on Thanksgiving, a game which the ''Herald'' wrote would be a ''de facto'' state championship and "swell the athletic association's treasury." Centre won the game, 12–6, in front of 3,500 spectators. A shortage of funds continued, however, during Guyn's tenure, and in 1907, the program was unable to provide the team with proper equipment. That season, Transylvania renewed the sport, and the

Crimson Crimson is a rich, deep red color, inclining to purple. It originally meant the color of the kermes dye produced from a scale insect, ''Kermes vermilio'', but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic term for slightly bluish-red colo ...

proceeded through its season undefeated before it met Kentucky in the finale. The game, originally scheduled for Thanksgiving, was postponed until December 5 due to heavy rains, which both schools feared would curtail gate receipts. Kentucky won, 5–0, in what was described as a "dull game" before a crowd half the size as expected. Before the 1908 season, Kentucky lacked funds to equip several players, so the athletic association scheduled a game with

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

in a bid to generate revenue. Travel costs limited the income, and on the gridiron, Kentucky was shut out, 62–0. The program did succeed in rescheduling Centre on Thanksgiving, and newly constructed stands and luxury boxes at

Stoll Field Stoll Field/McLean Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. It was the home of the University of Kentucky Wildcats football team. The field has been in use since 1880, but the concrete stands were opened in Oct ...

seated the largest crowd in city history. Kentucky beat Centre, 40–0. The book ''Before Big Blue: Sports at the University of Kentucky, 1880–1940'' noted that "these hanksgivinggames, and the revenue from them, saved the university sports program and prepared the way for a more modern athletic department in the next decade." With the money, Kentucky was able to purchase suitable equipment and hired a respected Eastern coach for the following season,

Edwin Sweetland Edwin Regur Sweetland (January 10, 1875 – October 21, 1950) was a coach, trainer, and athletic administrator at several American universities. During his coaching career he was head coach of many sports including basketball, track and field and c ...

. Under Guyn, Kentucky amassed a 17–7–1 record during his tenure.

Professional career

In 1910, Guyn was the city of Lexington's assistant engineer. By 1915, he was the city engineer, a post he held for 31 years. In 1934, he was working as the Lexington director of

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...

. In February 1949, Guyn was named the assistant supervising engineer of the medical and hospital services of the Kentucky state

department of health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

.It Happened In Kentucky
''Kentucky New Era'', February 4, 1949. He died at a hospital on April 15, 1953 at the age of 69.
''The New York Times'', April 16, 1953.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guyn, J. White 1883 births 1953 deaths 20th-century American engineers Kentucky Wildcats football players Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Kentucky Wildcats football coaches Sportspeople from Lexington, Kentucky Players of American football from Lexington, Kentucky Basketball players from Lexington, Kentucky American men's basketball players