Dan C. Kenan 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 football for

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

in 1913 and 1914 and served as the head coach of the Wesleyan football team in 1916 and 1920. His .750 winning percentage as Wesleyan's head football coach ranks third in the 127-year history of Wesleyan football.

Athlete

Kenan grew up in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

, and attended the El Paso Military Academy. He subsequently enrolled at

in Middletown, Connecticut, where he played for the Wesleyan Cardinals football team in 1913 and 1914. He was a utility player during most of the 1913 season and played at both the halfback and tackle positions in Wesleyan's 1913 game against Trinity College. Kenan was unanimously selected as the captain of Wesleyan's 1914 football team and played fullback for the 1914 team. He also did punting and drop kicking for the 1914 Wesleyan team. At the end of the 1914 college football season, '' Outing'' magazine selected Kenan for its Football Roll of Honor as one of the "Stars of the Gridiron in 1914."

Coach

In June 1915, Kenan was voted the best athlete in Wesleyan's senior class. That same month, he was also hired as an assistant to help Dick Eustis coach the football team. In February 1916, Kenan became the head football coach at Wesleyan and led the team to 4–1–2 record. He was also hired as Wesleyan's head men's basketball coach in December 1916. With the entry of the United States into

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Kenan entered the military and was assigned to an officer's training camp in 1917. After leaving the military, Kenan returned to his position as Wesleyan's head football coach in 1920. He led the 1920 football team to a 5–1–1 record and a tie for the

Little Three The ''Little Three'' is a term started by and used in reference to athletic competition between three private liberal arts colleges in the New England region of the United States: Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts, Wesleyan University i ...

football championship. In two seasons as Wesleyan's head football coach, Kenan compiled a 9–2–3 record. His .750 winning percentage ranks third all-time in the 127-year history of Wesleyan football.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenan, Dan Year of birth missing Year of death missing Wesleyan Cardinals football players Wesleyan Cardinals football coaches Wesleyan University faculty Players of American football from Texas

Athlete

Coach

See also

References