Jesse Clair Harper (December 10, 1883 – July 31, 1961) 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 ...

and

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 tea ...

player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at

Alma College Alma College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Alma, Michigan. It enrolls approximately 1,400 students and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Alma College is affiliat ...

(1906–1907),

Wabash College Wabash College is a private liberal arts men's college in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Founded in 1832 by several Dartmouth College graduates and Midwestern leaders, it enrolls nearly 900 students. The college offers an undergraduate liberal arts cur ...

(1909–1912), and the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

(1913–1917), compiling a career

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 ...

record of 57–17–7. Harper was inducted 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 vote ...

as a coach in 1971.

Coaching career

Alma

Harper was the head football coach at

Alma, Michigan Alma is the largest city in Gratiot County, Michigan, Gratiot County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 9,383 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It was incorporated as the Village of Alma in 1872 and became a city in 1905 ...

. He held that position for the 1906 and 1907 seasons. His coaching record at Alma was 8–3–4.

Wabash

Harper was the 18th head football coach at

Crawfordsville, Indiana Crawfordsville is a city in Montgomery County in west central Indiana, United States, west by northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,306. The city is the county seat of Montgomery County, the only cha ...

, and he held that position for four seasons, from 1909 until 1912. His coaching record at Wabash was 15–9–2.

Notre Dame

Harper is most known for his coaching at the

. His 1913 football squad posted a 35–13 win over

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, one that is regarded by most football historians as the game that put Notre Dame on the football map.

Later life

Harper stepped down as head football coach after the 1917 season and returned to ranching in his home state of

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. His ranch was not far from where

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 whi ...

was killed in a 1931 plane crash. Harper accompanied Rockne's body on the train from Kansas back to South Bend, Indiana, for the funeral and burial. The University of Notre Dame immediately hired Harper to fill Rockne's role as athletic director, a position in which he remained until 1934, when

Elmer Layden Elmer Francis Layden (May 4, 1903 – June 30, 1973) was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame where he starred at full ...

became head football coach and athletic director. Harper was married and had two sons and one daughter. In 1963, he was inducted into the

Hall of Great Westerners The Hall of Great Westerners was established by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1958. Located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S., the Hall was created to celebrate the contributions of more than 200 men and women of the American W ...

of the

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 American West, Western and Native Americans in the United States, American Indian art works and Artifact (archaeology), ar ...

for his contributions to the cattle industry.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Jesse 1883 births 1961 deaths American cattlemen Alma Scots football coaches Chicago Maroons baseball players Chicago Maroons football players Notre Dame Fighting Irish athletic directors Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball coaches Wabash Little Giants baseball coaches Wabash Little Giants basketball coaches Wabash Little Giants football coaches College Football Hall of Fame inductees Morgan Park Academy alumni Ranchers from Kansas People from Paw Paw, Illinois Coaches of American football from Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Basketball coaches from Illinois