John Abner Penton (February 10, 1870 – October 17, 1919) 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 with ...

player and coach. Penton attended the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

, and Johns Hopkins Medical School. He played starting guard on the 1893, 1894, and 1895 Virginia football teams and 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 ...

of the 1893, 1894, and 1895 teams.e. g. After he graduated from the University of Virginia, Penton chose to play as a "special student" fullback on the Auburn football team under head coach, his long-time companion,

John Heisman John William Heisman (October 23, 1869 – October 3, 1936) was a player and coach of American football, baseball, and basketball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College, Buchtel College ...

in 1897. The first coach at Clemson,

Walter Riggs Walter Merritt Riggs (January 24, 1873 – January 22, 1924) was the president of Clemson University from 1910 to 1924 and the "father of Clemson football" coaching the first football team for what was then Clemson College. Riggs was president of ...

, had in fact played on the team as well. Penton had lived near the Auburn campus his entire life and likely facilitated the Pennsylvania native, Heisman's, move to the campus. Penton then served as the third head football coach at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enro ...

for one season in 1898, compiling a record of 3–1 before the program ran out of money.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* 1870 births 1919 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football fullbacks American football guards Auburn Tigers football players Clemson Tigers football coaches Virginia Cavaliers football players All-Southern college football players People from Coosa County, Alabama Players of American football from Alabama {{1890s-collegefootball-coach-stub