Albert Ernest Herrnstein (August 15, 1882 – August 14, 1958) 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 played at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

as a halfback and

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

from 1899 to 1902 and was the head football coach at the Haskell Indian School (1903–1904),

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

(1905), and

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 publ ...

(1906–1909).

University of Michigan

A native of Chillicothe, Ohio, Herrnstein attended the

from 1899 to 1909. He played six years of varsity football and gained fame as one of the stars of Fielding H. Yost's "Point-a-Minute" teams that outscored their opponents 1,211–12 in

1901 Events January * January 1 – The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton becomes the first Prime Minist ...

and

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world' ...

. One of the highlights of Herrnstein's playing career was the 1902 Michigan – Ohio State game when he scored five touchdowns in an 86–0 rout of the Buckeyes.Park, pp. 30-31 Herrnstein might have scored more touchdowns had the official not stopped the game halfway through the second half after concluding "the game was getting out of hand." As a member of the 1901 Wolverines team, Herrnstein played in the

1902 Rose Bowl Originally titled the "Tournament East–West football game," what is now known as the Rose Bowl Game was first played on January 1, 1902, at Tournament Park in Pasadena, California, starting the tradition of New Year's Day bowl games. The inaug ...

, the first-ever college football

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...

. Herrnstein kicked a 21-yard field goal in the game, a 49–0 win over Stanford.

Coaching

After graduating from Michigan in 1903, Herrnstein was hired as the football coach at the Haskell Indian School in

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 th ...

, where he coached in 1903 and 1904. The Haskell football team went 7–3 in 1903, and in 1904 Herrnstein led them to the best record in the school's history to that point, finishing with an 8–1 record, and outscoring opponents 221–50. In 1905, Herrnstein was hired as the head coach of Purdue and led the Boilermakers to a 6–1–1 record. Herrnstein was hired by Ohio State in 1906, and his 1906 Buckeyes team was the best team the school had fielded to that point. The 1906 Buckeyes did not allow a single touchdown, outscored opponents 153–14, and compiled a record of 8–1. The one defeat was a 6–0 loss to Herrnstein's alma mater,

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. Herrnstein's 1906 team also threw the first forward pass in Ohio State history, a ten-yard touchdown pass in a game against Wooster. Herrnstein's 1907 team finished 7–2–1 with losses to

and Case. In 1908, the Buckeyes slipped to 6–4, and Herrnstein failed in his third attempt to defeat Michigan. In 1908, Michigan'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 an ...

, Charles A. Baird, published a column about the upcoming football season and wrote the following of Herrnstein: "Herrnstein was a former Michigan star who is thoroughly acquainted with the Yost system and by several years of coaching at the Haskell Indian school, Purdue and Ohio State, has developed into a great teacher of football." In 1909, Herrnstein's Ohio State team was 7–3, but lost its fourth straight game to Michigan, this time by a score of 33–6. Herrnstein's four-year record at Ohio State was 28–10–1. He left Ohio State with more wins than any other coach in the school's history, a distinction he held until

John Wilce John Woodworth Wilce (May 12, 1888 – May 17, 1963) was an American football player and coach, physician, and university professor. He served as the head football coach at Ohio State University from 1913 to 1928, compiling a record of 78–33–9 ...

compiled 78 wins from 1913–1928.

Later years

In later years, Herrnstein operated the Herrnstein Hardware Co., a retail hardware store located at 72 N. Paint Street in Chillicothe, Ohio. He ran the hardware store for more than 50 years and was the president of the National Retail Hardware Association. He was also a director of the Chillicothe Mutual Building and Loan Co. from 1913 and the president of the company from 1931. At the time of the 1910 United States Census, Herrnstein was living at 303 Chestnut Street in Chillicothe with his wife Martha (age 25) and his daughter Martha (age 3). His occupation was listed as a merchant at a hardware store. Herrnstein was the first of three generations of Herrnsteins to play football for the University of Michigan. His nephew, Bill Herrnstein, played for the Wolverines, and his grand nephew,

John Herrnstein John Ellett Herrnstein (March 31, 1938 – October 3, 2017) was an American baseball and football player. He played Major League Baseball from 1962 to 1966 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and Atlanta Braves. He also played co ...

, was captain of the

1958 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1958 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1958 Big Ten Conference football season. In its 11th and final year under head coach Bennie Oosterbaan, Michigan compiled a 2–6–1 record (1–5–1 again ...

. Herrnstein died on the eve of his 76th birthday in 1958 at the Chillicothe Hospital. He had been ill for several months, and his death was caused by a heart ailment.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Herrnstein, Albert E. 1958 deaths 1882 births 19th-century players of American football American football ends American football halfbacks Haskell Indian Nations Fighting Indians football coaches Michigan Wolverines football players Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches Purdue Boilermakers football coaches Sportspeople from Chillicothe, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio