Howard Harding Jones (August 23, 1885 – July 27, 1941) 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 ...

player and coach who served as the head coach at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

(1908),

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

(1909, 1913),

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pub ...

(1910), the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 co ...

(1916–1923),

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist Jam ...

(1924) and the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

(1925–1940), compiling a career record of 194–64–21. His 1909 Yale team, 1921 Iowa team, and four of his USC teams (

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhano ...

, 1931,

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hir ...

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

) won national championships. Jones coached USC in five Rose Bowls, winning all of them. Before coaching, Jones played football at Yale (1905–1907), where he played on three national title-winning teams. He was a member of the inaugural class of inductees 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 vo ...

as a coach in 1951; his younger brother, Tad, joined him as a member in 1958.

Early life and playing career

Jones was born in

Excello, Ohio Excello is an unincorporated community in central Lemon Township, Butler County, Ohio, United States, on the south side of Middletown. It comprises roughly the area south of Oxford State Road and State Route 73, west of State Route 4, and east ...

, near Middletown. He played football for three seasons at

, from 1905 to 1907. During his three years, the

Yale Bulldogs The Yale Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. The school sponsors 35 varsity sports. The school has won two NCAA national championships in women's fencing, four in ...

never lost a game, going 28–0–2. Yale claims national championships for all three seasons.

Coaching career

Syracuse, Yale and Ohio State

After graduating in 1908, Jones became the head coach at

on the advice of Walter Camp, leading the

Orangemen Orangemen or Orangewomen can refer to: *Historically, supporters of William of Orange *Members of the modern Orange Order (also known as Orange Institution), a Protestant fraternal organisation *Members or supporters of the Armagh GAA Gaelic foot ...

to a 6–3–1 record before returning to Yale as the head coach. He led

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

to a 10–0 record in 1909, a season in which Yale claims another national championship. Yale's 15–0 victory over Syracuse in 1909 was significant in that it was the first time that two brothers had ever faced each other as opposing head coaches. Syracuse was then coached by Howard Jones's brother, Tad Jones. Yale 4370905822 3f2c98ef4c o

After the 1909 season, Howard Jones served a one-year stint as head football coach at

in 1910, leading the Buckeyes to a 6–1–3 record. Jones spent four of his next five years in private business, returning only to coach Yale to a 5–2–3 record in 1913. A lack of team talent drove him toward greener pastures, and he would eventually enjoy great success at the

and the

Iowa

Reed Lane, a businessman on the Iowa Athletic Board, was a classmate of Jones's when they both attended a Yale preparatory school. When

Jesse Hawley Jesse Hawley may refer to: * Jesse Hawley (merchant) __NOTOC__ Jesse Hawley (May 11, 1773 – January 10, 1842) was an American flour merchant in Geneva, New York, who became an early and major proponent of building of the Erie Canal.Haw ...

left after the 1915 season, Iowa offered Jones a contract to become Iowa's 11th head football coach on the recommendation of Lane. Jones accepted a five-year contract at $4,500 annually, the longest commitment and most money ever offered to a coach at Iowa. Jones's first two years were highlighted by a 67–0 loss to

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

in 1916 and a 47–0 loss to

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

in 1917. Jones vowed he would never lose by such scores again, and he did not; they remained the two worst losses of his career. In 1918, Iowa defeated

for the first time in school history. It would be the first of five straight wins over Minnesota for Jones, and Nebraska never again scored a point on a Jones-coached team. The loss of Fred Becker hurt Iowa during that time. Becker was Iowa's first first team All-American as a sophomore in 1916. He could have been a potential star for Jones, but he played just one season before enlisting for the service with the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Becker was killed in combat just ten months after being named an All-American.

altered the college football landscape. Eligibility rules were relaxed in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

in 1918. Iowa's

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 and ...

also left to serve in the war, so Jones was appointed to that position as well. Iowa's game with Coe College in 1918 was played with no fans in the stands, as public officials feared a

flu epidemic An influenza pandemic is an epidemic of an influenza virus that spreads across a large region (either multiple continents or worldwide) and infects a large proportion of the population. There have been six major influenza epidemics in the las ...

. Iowa reportedly won, 27–0. In 1918 and 1919, Iowa fell just short of the Big Ten title, with losses to

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

costing the Hawkeyes the crown in both seasons. Jones also coached the Iowa

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 ...

team in 1919. In 1920, Iowa had the top two scorers in the Big Ten and finished with a 5–2 record. Still, Iowa had not won a conference title in 21 years. All that changed in 1921, when Iowa finished with a perfect 7–0 record and won the Big Ten title outright. The most notable win of the season was a 10–7 triumph over Notre Dame. It was Jones's first meeting with Notre Dame coach

Knute Rockne Knut ( Norwegian and Swedish), Knud ( Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used ...

. The win snapped a 20-game winning streak for Rockne and Notre Dame, which would be the longest winning streak of Rockne's career. One of the criticisms fans had of the previous Iowa coach, Hawley, was that he could not convince talented Iowa players to play at Iowa. Jones succeeded in that respect; the 1921 Hawkeyes started 11 native Iowans. Despite the graduations of many key players, Iowa again posted a perfect 7–0 final record in 1922. Iowa again went 5–0 in the Big Ten, capturing its second straight Big Ten crown. It is the only time in Iowa history that the Hawkeyes have won consecutive conference titles. The most notable win of the 1922 season was a victory over Yale, then coached by Howard's brother, Tad. It was the first time a "western" team had ever defeated Yale in

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

. Iowa’s winning streak from 1920–1923 under Jones lasted 20 games and almost three full years. Howard Jones's wife was not fond of

Iowa City Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the time ...

, and he demanded a new contract, which would allow him to coach and live in Iowa City only during football season. A conflict between Jones and the chairman of the Athletics Board at Iowa contributed to the tension, and Jones eventually resigned as head coach and athletic director at Iowa.

Duke and USC

Jones coached in 1924 at Trinity College, now known as

, before leaving for USC in 1925. In 16 seasons at USC, Jones coached seven

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including ...

championship teams and four more national champions, and won each of the five Rose Bowls in which his Trojans played . In the 1920s, USC won two Rose Bowls, in 1923 and 1930. Heading into the 1930 Rose Bowl, USC had defeated its crosstown rival

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

76–0 in their first meeting. Moments before a USC-

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...

game, Jones visited the Stanford locker room and discovered Stanford All-American halfback

Bobby Grayson Bobby Grayson (December 8, 1914 – September 22, 1981) was an American football player. He was a two-time consensus All-American player who led the Stanford University football team to three consecutive Rose Bowl Games from 1933 to 1935. At St ...

was nursing an injured knee. Jones returned to the USC quarters and instructed his players to avoid hitting Grayson in the crippled leg. They never did. In 1939 and 1940, Jones's teams again won the Rose Bowl. In those two Rose Bowl games, USC faced teams that were unbeaten, untied and unscored-upon. First it was Duke, which led after an early fourth quarter 23-yard field goal by Tony Ruffa, but backup USC quarterback Doyle Nave completed four straight passes to "Antelope" Al Krueger who outmaneuvered Eric "The Red" Tipton, scoring the winning touchdown with one minute remaining. Krueger's touchdown marked the first points scored against Duke during the season. In the 1940 Rose Bowl, the Trojans defeated the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity college athletics, intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in NCAA Division I, ...

14–0, ending a 23-game Tennessee winning streak and scoring the first points scored against the Volunteers all season. USC historian Al Wesson remarked, "Howard lived and breathed football. If it were not for football, he would have starved to death – couldn't possibly have made a living in business." One of the players Jones coached while at USC was legendary film star

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Go ...

. Wesson also recalled, "His assistants tried to get him to organize the practices and let them do most of the heavy work. He'd promise to do it, but after 15 minutes on the field, he'd be down on the ground showing them personally how to block, following every play on the dead run, and acting as though he were still playing end at Yale. He just couldn't relax and let others do the heavy work."Greatest Moments In Iowa Hawkeyes Football History, by Mark Dukes & Gus Schrader, Page 25 () Jones lived in Toluca Lake, California. On the hot morning of July 27, 1941, while home alone and washing and waxing his car, Jones fell ill and called his doctor, who lived nearby. By the time he arrived, Jones was dead; he had suffered a heart attack. The sudden, unexpected death was a shock to family, friends and fans: Several thousand people attended his funeral at First Methodist Church in Hollywood. He was buried in Woodside Cemetery & Arboretum at Middletown, Ohio.Earl Gustkey
Howard's End: Jones Began USC's Football Success in the 1920s; So What if He Wasn't Ever Going to Be Life of a Party?
''Los Angeles Times'', December 24, 1995, accessed April 19, 2012.

Coaching style and personality

Jones was known for being completely absorbed in the sport and aloof outside of it. While he and Notre Dame's

were the two most famous coaches in America in the 1930s, beyond football their personalities were completely different: Rockne was a natural showman, Jones was a terrible public speaker and humorless. His appearance, described as "stone-faced" and "severe-looking" kept him intimidating. Though quiet off the field, when coaching, Jones was intimidating and energetic. Although his players and assistant coaches had a hard time relating to him, all had absolute confidence in his abilities. While admired for his integrity and scruples, Jones's formidable personality led him to be an authoritarian coach at times, and he did not tolerate discussion. Jones did not like spending time on recruiting, relying mostly on his assistants, and recruited only very few players. His assistants Bob McNeish, Hobbs Adams and

Jeff Cravath Newell Jefferson Cravath (February 3, 1903 – December 10, 1953) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach the University of Denver from 1929 to 1931, at the University of San Francisco in 1941, and at the U ...

are credited with bringing in the players who enabled USC to win two more Rose Bowls after lean years in the mid-1930s.

Honors

All told, Jones's career record was 194–64–21, a .733 winning percentage, in over 28 seasons at Syracuse, Yale, Ohio State, Iowa, Duke and Southern California. The

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses ** South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

–

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

game on October 5, 1946 was designated as the ''Howard Jones Memorial Game'' in honor of the late Trojan and Buckeye coach. The dedication was intended to drive funding to build a "Howard Jones Memorial Fieldhouse and Armory" on campus at the University of Southern California. Jones was a member of the

's inaugural class of inductees in 1951.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Howard 1885 births 1941 deaths American football tight ends Duke Blue Devils baseball coaches Duke Blue Devils football coaches Iowa Hawkeyes athletic directors Iowa Hawkeyes baseball coaches Iowa Hawkeyes football coaches Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches Syracuse Orange football coaches USC Trojans football coaches Yale Bulldogs football coaches Yale Bulldogs football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Butler County, Ohio Players of American football from Los Angeles Sports coaches from Los Angeles Coaches of American football from Ohio Players of American football from Ohio Baseball coaches from Ohio Educators from Ohio