John Farrell "Big John" Macklin (October 17, 1883 – October 10, 1949) 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, coach of football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

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 ...

and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

, and a college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Michigan Agricultural College, now

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

from 1911 to 1915. With a five-year record of 29–5, he has the highest winning percentage of any football coach in Michigan State history. Macklin coached the

Michigan State Spartans football The Michigan State Spartans football program represents Michigan State University (MSU) in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. The Spartans are members of the Big Ten Conference. Michigan State claims ...

team to its first ever victories over

Ohio State 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 public ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, and Penn State. He was also the

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 and ...

at Michigan Agricultural and coached the school's basketball, baseball, and track and field teams. Macklin tallied marks of 48–38 as head basketball coach (1910–1916) and 52–27 as head baseball coach (1911–1915).

Biography

Early years

Macklin was born in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 census, making it the second- most populous city in New England after ...

and attended Worcester High School. He played high school football for four years and was also the captain of Worcester's crew. After graduating from Worcester High School, Macklin attended Exeter Academy in

Exeter, New Hampshire Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,049 at the 2020 census, up from 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood. ...

and then St. Paul's School in

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the county seat, seat of Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third larg ...

, playing football at each school.

Penn

After completing his preparatory education, Macklin enrolled at the

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

. Macklin grew to be a giant of a man for his time. He was 6 feet, 7 inches tall and weighed 275 pounds. When Macklin arrived at Penn, one account indicates there were no uniforms large enough to fit him: "When the big husky appeared on the gridiron the first thing the coaches did was to send for the athletic outfitter, for there was not a suit on the campus that would encompass his frame." Macklin played two years at the tackle position for Penn's football team. The ''

Chicago Daily Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television are ...

'' later wrote: "For a big man he was remarkably agile and his tackling on the wings and his quickness in getting through to break up plays was the delight of the coaches."

Coaching career

In 1910, Macklin coached football at a boys' school at

Pawling, New York Pawling may refer to: *Pawling (town), New York, in Dutchess County **Pawling (village), New York Pawling is a village in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 2,347 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie– N ...

. Macklin's success at Pawling brought him to the attention of

Michigan Agricultural College Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

(now Michigan State University), which was in need of a new athletic director and coach. He was hired in January 1911 upon the recommendation of the renowned Penn athletic trainer

Mike Murphy Michael James Murphy (born 20 October 1941) is an Irish broadcaster, actor and property developer. He is best known for his long broadcasting career with RTÉ, presenting many TV shows such as ''The Live Mike'', '' Winning Streak'' and '' The Bi ...

. Macklin was the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in asso ...

at Michigan State 1911 to 1915 and compiled a record of 29–5. His winning percentage of .853 is the highest in the history of the

program. Macklin's 1913 Michigan State team finished with an undefeated, untied record of 7–0 and outscored opponents by a combined score of 180 to 28. Macklin was the first Michigan State coach to lead the Spartans to football victories over

(35–20 in 1912),

(12–7 in 1913),

(12–7 in 1913), and Penn State (6–3 in 1914). Macklin's 1913 team was also the first racially integrated team in the school's history, as Gideon Smith became the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

player for the Spartans. Macklin was also the athletic director and coach of the baseball, men's basketball, and track and field teams. He coached the basketball team from 1910 to 1916 and compiled a 48–38 (.558) record, including a 12–3 record for 1911–12 season. He coached the baseball team from 1911 to 1915, compiling a record of 52–27 (.658).MSU All-Time Summary
/ref> Macklin retired from coaching in March 1916 to enter the coal mining business in Pennsylvania.

Later years and honors

The

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...

in 1949 called Macklin "the founding father of the big time at Michigan State College." When he was hired in 1911, the school was putting on games for $200. When he left, the school received guarantees of $10,000 for games. As athletic director, he also led the effort to build new athletic buildings and a modern gymnasium. In 1935, Michigan State renamed its football stadium Macklin Field in his honor. At the time, Macklin was a coal mine operator living in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

. The name was changed to Macklin Stadium in 1948, and in 1957, Macklin's name was dropped and replaced by the current name, Spartan Stadium.College Gridirons, Spartan Stadium
Accessed 2010-04-15. Macklin died at his home in the suburbs of Philadelphia at age 65.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macklin, John 1883 births 1949 deaths Michigan State Spartans athletic directors Michigan State Spartans baseball coaches Michigan State Spartans football coaches Michigan State Spartans men's basketball coaches Penn Quakers football players American football tackles Basketball coaches from Massachusetts Players of American football from Worcester, Massachusetts