John Henry Outland (March 17, 1871 – March 24, 1947) 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 at Penn College in

Oskaloosa, Iowa Oskaloosa is a city in, and the county seat of, Mahaska County, Iowa, United States. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Oskaloosa was a national center of bituminous coal mining. The population was 11,558 in the 2020 U.S. Ce ...

, the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

, and the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. He was twice named an All-American while playing for the

Penn Quakers The Penn Quakers are the athletic teams of the University of Pennsylvania. The school sponsors 33 varsity sports. The school has won three NCAA national championships in men's fencing and one in women's fencing. School colors There are s ...

, in 1897 as a tackle and in 1898 as a halfback. After playing, Outland coached at

Franklin & Marshall College Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) is a private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It employs 175 full-time faculty members and has a student body of approximately 2,400 full-time students. It was founded upon the merger of Fran ...

in 1900, the University of Kansas in 1901, Haskell Institute in 1902 and 1906, and

Washburn University Washburn University (WU) is a public university in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,100 ...

from 1904 to 1905, compiling a career college football record of 21–15–2. He is the namesake of the

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All-Am ...

, an annual award established in 1946 and given to the best interior lineman in college football. Outland was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 2001.

Early life and playing career

Outland was born in Hesper, Kansas to Thomas Outland and Mahala Outland (née Kemp) into a Quaker family who settled in Kansas from Indiana around 1860 during the

Bleeding Kansas Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the ...

period as part of a larger Quaker immigration to Kansas in support of the Free State cause. He grew up mostly in

Johnson County, Kansas Johnson County is a county in the U.S. state of Kansas, on the border with Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 609,863, making it the most populous county in Kansas. Its county seat is Olathe. Largely suburban, the county cont ...

in the towns of Lexington, Kansas (present day DeSoto, Kansas) and Edgerton, Kansas though. He was a member of the first football team at Penn College in

in 1891. Outland captained the team in 1892, scoring 32 of the team's 36 points. After starring in football 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 t ...

at the

in 1895 and 1896, Outland went to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

to complete his medical education at the

University of Pennsylvania Medical School The Perelman School of Medicine, commonly known as Penn Med, is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1765, the Perelman School of Medicine is the oldest medi ...

. There he became one of the few men ever to win All-American football honors as both lineman and the backfield player. He was picked by

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the system ...

as a first-team All-American in 1897, as a tackle. In 1898, he was selected again, this time as a halfback. He was captain of the 1898 Pennsylvania team and was voted "Most Popular Man" at the University of Pennsylvania. Outland worked his way through college and spent his last two summers as a companion to rich young men who were alcoholics. To keep them away from alcohol, Outland took them on camping trips in the Wyoming mountains.

Coaching career

Franklin and Marshall

In 1900, Outland coached the football team at

in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for one season. His team produced a record of 4–5. He was the 11th coach of the program that began in 1887.

Kansas

Outland was the eighth head football coach for the University of Kansas Jayhawks located in Lawrence, Kansas and he held that position for the 1901 season. His overall coaching record at Kansas was 3–5–2.

Haskell

In 1902, Outland became head coach of the Haskell Indian Nations football team in Lawrence. The team went 8-2-1 with victories over

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, and

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 ...

. After the victory over Missouri, Outland said his team could "beat Carlisle and some of the Eastern colleges also."

Washburn

Outland also coached at

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central U ...

. He was the ninth head football coach for Washburn and he held that position for two seasons, from 1904 until 1905. His overall coaching record at Washburn was 14–5. Outland's 1905 season ended with an experimental game with Fairmount University where a new rule forcing the offense to earn a first down in three plays instead of four was in effect. The experiment was considered a failure.

Haskell

In 1906, Outland returned as head coach of the Haskell Indian Nations football team in

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

. The team ended its season with a record of 2 wins and 5 losses, being outscored by a total of 96 to 53. Outland's overall coaching record at Haskell was 10-7-1.

Later life

After receiving his medical degree, Outland returned to Kansas in 1900 where he set up his medical practice first in Lawrence, Kansas which led to his hiring as the head football coach of the University of Kansas. On January 28, 1902 Outland married Ethel Arnett Grimes in her hometown of

Dana, Indiana Dana is a town in Helt Township, Vermillion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 608 at the 2010 census. It is primarily a farming community. History Dana was platted in 1874 when the railroad was extended to that point. The town w ...

. He then moved his practice to

in 1904 in order to coach the Washburn University football team. In 1906 Outland moved his family to

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

where he joined the very first staff of the brand new Trinity-Lutheran hospital in Kansas City, Missouri as a general practicing surgeon. Later, in about 1916, while still on staff with Trinity-Lutheran hospital he moved his family across state lines to Kansas City, Missouri where he lived until his retirement. During his time as a practicing surgeon he extensively used his own plane, often flying with famous Kansas City early aviation pioneer pilot John Kerr "Tex" LaGrone, to visit patients in rural areas and far flung towns, being the first doctor in the Kansas City area to do so. While practicing medicine in the Kansas City region, Dr. Outland served for many years on the athletic board of the University of Kansas alongside other notable KU alumni,

Dr. James Naismith James Naismith (; November 6, 1861November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball. After moving to the United States, he wrote ...

and Dr. Forrest "Phog" Allen amongst others. Dr. Outland also served as a referee for college football games, including the 1907 Iowa State - Nebraska game in which he rendered the decision that negated an Iowa State field goal and preserved a 10-9 Nebraska victory. Upon his retirement he moved to Laguna Beach, California. He also served as a major in the

United States Army Medical Corps The Medical Corps (MC) of the U.S. Army is a staff corps (non-combat specialty branch) of the U.S. Army Medical Department (AMEDD) consisting of commissioned medical officers – physicians with either an M.D. or a D.O. degree, at least one ...

during

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 ...

Kansas Relays

Outland was the founder of the

Kansas Relays The Kansas Relays are a three-day track meet every April, held at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. Since 1923, the Kansas Relays have attracted runners, throwers, and jumpers from all over the United States of America, bringing in a ...

, having obtained the inspiration for that event at Penn, when as a student, he saw the

Penn Relays The Penn Relays (also Penn Relays Carnival) is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. In 2012, there were ...

just getting under way. For many years he held the post of honorary referee of the Kansas events.

Outland Trophy

Outland conceived the idea of the

because of his belief that interior lineman were not given enough recognition in college football. The trophy is the third oldest college football trophy. Selection of the winner is made by the Football Writers Association of America.

Death

Outland suffered a stroke in March 1947 and died at his home in

Laguna Beach, California Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservation efforts, and a ...

two weeks later on March 24, 1947.''California Death Records''. State of California, March 24, 1947 He was survived by his wife, Ethel, daughter Mrs. Mary McDougall of

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, and son John Grimes Outland of

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. Outland was laid to rest in Maple Grove Cemetery in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

near his parents' graves.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Outland, John H. 1871 births 1947 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football halfbacks American football tackles Franklin & Marshall Diplomats baseball coaches Franklin & Marshall Diplomats football coaches Haskell Indian Nations Fighting Indians football coaches Kansas Jayhawks baseball players Kansas Jayhawks football coaches Kansas Jayhawks football players Penn Quakers football players Washburn Ichabods athletic directors Washburn Ichabods football coaches William Penn Statesmen football players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army Medical Corps officers People from De Soto, Kansas People from Douglas County, Kansas People from Johnson County, Kansas Coaches of American football from Kansas Players of American football from Kansas Baseball coaches from Kansas