James J. "Gentleman Jim" Yeager (February 2, 1909 – May 17, 1971) 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. He served as the head football coach at

Fort Hays State University Fort Hays State University (FHSU) is a public university in Hays, Kansas. It is the fourth-largest of the six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents, with a total enrollment of approximately 15,100 students. History FHSU w ...

(1935),

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

(1937–1940), and the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...

(1941–1943, 1946–1947), compiling a career college football record of 48–38–3. Yeager won conference championships in 1935 with Fort Hays State and in 1942 and 1943 with Colorado.

Playing career

Yeager played football as a defensive lineman and guard at Kansas State University from 1928 to 1930 and graduated from the university in 1931.

Coaching career

Fort Hays State

Yeager got his start in coaching as the ninth head football coach for the

Fort Hays Tigers The Fort Hays State Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Fort Hays State University, located in Hays, Kansas, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II ranks, primarily competing in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athl ...

located in Hays, Kansas, and he held that position for the 1935 season. His record at Fort Hays was 8–2. This ranks him 15th at Fort Hays in total wins and first at Fort Hays in winning percentage. That year, his team was declared the

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Central Intercollegiate Conference (CIC) was an American intercollegiate athletic conference that operated from 1928 to 1968. It was less often referred to as the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAC), particularly towards the begin ...

co-champions.

Iowa State

After his success at Fort Hays, Yeager was named the 16th head coach for the Iowa State University Cyclones located in Ames, Iowa, and he held that position for four seasons, from 1937 until 1940. His coaching record at Iowa state was 16–19–1. This ranks him 15th at Iowa state in total wins and 14th at Iowa state in winning percentage His best season came in 1938, when the team produced a record of 7–1–1.

Colorado

Yeager then returned to success as head coach of the

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

Buffaloes where he coached five season between 1941 and 1947 with a two-year hiatus in 1944 and 1945. His record there stands at 24–17–2.

Death

Yeager died of an apparent heart attack on May 17, 1971, at the age of 62.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yeager, James J. 1909 births 1971 deaths American football guards Colorado Buffaloes football coaches Fort Hays State Tigers football coaches Iowa State Cyclones football coaches Kansas State Wildcats football players People from Chase County, Kansas Coaches of American football from Kansas