John Franklin "Smiling Jack" Wiley (April 18, 1920 – March 25, 2013) 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. He served as the head football coach at Waynesburg College—now known as Waynesburg University—in

Waynesburg, Pennsylvania Waynesburg is a borough in and the county seat of Greene County, Pennsylvania, United States, located about south of Pittsburgh. Its population was 3,987 at the 2020 census. The region around Waynesburg is underlaid with several layers of cok ...

from 1951 to 1954, compiling a record of 22–9–1.

Playing career

Wiley played tackle for Waynesburg College and appeared in the first televised game in U.S. history against Fordham at

Randalls Island Randalls Island (sometimes called Randall's Island) and Wards Island are conjoined islands, collectively called Randalls and Wards Islands, in New York County, New York City,

, New York. He took a break from football as he served in the Army during World War II, rising to the rank of captain. After World War II, Wiley played for the Steelers and coaches Jock Sutherland and

John Michelosen John Michelosen (February 13, 1916 – October 17, 1982) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1948 to 1951, compiling a record of 20–26– ...

from 1946 to 1950, and he was remembered by team chairman

Dan Rooney Daniel Milton Rooney (July 20, 1932 – April 13, 2017) was an American executive and diplomat best known for his association with the Pittsburgh Steelers, an American football team in the National Football League (NFL), and son of the Steelers' ...

as contributing to one of the team's most successful pre-Super Bowl periods.

Coaching career

Wiley was the head football coach at Waynesburg University in

for four seasons, from 1951 to 1954, compiling a record of 22–9–1. Wiley left Waynesburg to become an assistant at Pitt, where he is credited with recruiting Mike Ditka and Marty Schottenheimer. He left coaching in 1961 to become a salesman and later regional manager for the L.G. Balfour Jewelry & Taylor Publishing Company.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* 1920 births 2013 deaths American football tackles Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Pittsburgh Steelers players Waynesburg Yellow Jackets football coaches Waynesburg Yellow Jackets football players United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army officers People from Greene County, Pennsylvania Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Military personnel from Pennsylvania {{1950s-collegefootball-coach-stub