Wesley Eugene Fesler (June 29, 1908 – July 30, 1989) 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 ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, 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 ...

player and coach of football and basketball. He was a three-sport athlete at

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 ...

and a consensus first-team selection to the

College Football All-America Team The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best college football players in the United States at their respective positions. The original use of the term '' All-America'' seems to have been to the 1889 College Footbal ...

three straight years (1928–1930). Fesler was later the head football coach at

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 ...

(1941–1942), the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

(1946), Ohio State (1947–1950), and the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

(1951–1953), compiling a career record of 41–40–8. He was also the head basketball coach at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

(1933–1941), Wesleyan (1941–1944) and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

(1945–1946), tallying a mark of 78–139. Fesler was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1954.

Playing career

Fesler came to Ohio State from

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, whi ...

. At Ohio State, Fesler was a member of both Pi Kappa Alpha and

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

, earning a total of nine

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. Description ...

s in baseball, basketball, and football. He was a charter inductee in the

Ohio State Varsity O Hall of Fame The Ohio State Varsity "O" Hall of Fame is the athletic hall of fame for The Ohio State University. Its purpose is to recognize individuals who have contributed to the honor and fame of the university in the field of athletics. An athlete must h ...

in 1977.

Football

Many believe Fesler's greatest talents were in football. He primarily played

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 ...

and was a consensus first-team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

selection in 1928 and 1929 and a unanimous first-team

selection in 1930. Depending on the game situation, he would sometimes move into the backfield as a fullback. In 1930, he was voted the Most Valuable Player in the Big Ten.

Jock Sutherland John Bain Sutherland (March 21, 1889 – April 11, 1948) was an American football player and coach. He coached college football at Lafayette College (1919–1923) and the University of Pittsburgh (1924–1938) and professional football for the ...

, the

coach, called Fesler "a one man team. It is unbelievable how that boy can do so many things." In 1939

Grantland Rice Henry Grantland "Granny" Rice (November 1, 1880July 13, 1954) was an early 20th-century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio. Early years Rice wa ...

listed Fesler at end on his all-time college football team. Fesler was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954. In 1934, high-speed

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

"Doc" Edgerton took the now-classic photograph "Wes Fesler Kicking a Football." The

stroboscope A stroboscope, also known as a strobe, is an instrument used to make a cyclically moving object appear to be slow-moving, or stationary. It consists of either a rotating disk with slots or holes or a lamp such as a flashtube which produces br ...

photograph demonstrated the dent in the ball at the point of contact.

Basketball

In basketball Fesler was a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

. He was the basketball captain as a junior in the Spring of 1930, and the football captain as a senior in the Autumn of that year. He was Ohio State's first consensus first-team All-America selection in basketball in 1931.

Coaching career

Fesler ignored interest from teams of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

and instead pursued a career in coaching. He began his coaching career as an assistant to his Ohio State football coach,

Sam Willaman Samuel Stienneck Willaman (April 4, 1890 – August 18, 1935) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Iowa State University (1922–1925), Ohio State University (1929–1933), and Western Reserve University (1934 ...

, in 1931 and 1932. In 1933, Fesler accepted an offer from

as head coach of the basketball team and backfield coach of the football team. He stayed at Harvard until 1941. His stint at Harvard turned out to be the longest tenure of his career. In 1941, Fesler accepted an offer from

to be the head coach of their football team. Unfortunately, the Wesleyan football program was interrupted after the 1942 season by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In 1945, Fesler accepted an offer from Princeton as head basketball coach and assistant football coach. He later became the head football coach at the

in 1946. In 1947, he became the head coach at Ohio State. He resigned on December 9, 1950, citing "excessive pressure for winning football games". After leaving Ohio State, he became head coach at the

from 1951–1953. Fesler's 1949 Ohio State team was the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

co-champion and beat

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in the Rose Bowl. Fesler developed the talents of 1950 Heisman Trophy winner

Vic Janowicz Victor Felix Janowicz (February 26, 1930 – February 27, 1996) was an American football halfback in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins. He played college football at Ohio State University and was drafted in the seve ...

at Ohio State and two-time Big Ten MVP

Paul Giel Paul Robert Giel (February 29, 1932 – May 22, 2002) was an American college football and professional baseball player from Winona, Minnesota. He was an All-American in both sports at the University of Minnesota. Collegiate career Giel att ...

at Minnesota. Fesler had a stronger record as a football coach than as a basketball coach. His combined record as a major college football head coach, at Pitt, Ohio State, and Minnesota, was 34–31–8. His combined record as basketball head coach at Harvard and Princeton was 67–108.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fesler, Wes 1908 births 1989 deaths American football ends American men's basketball players Guards (basketball) Ohio State Buckeyes football players Ohio State Buckeyes baseball players Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Harvard Crimson men's basketball coaches Princeton Tigers men's basketball coaches Princeton Tigers football coaches Wesleyan Cardinals football coaches Wesleyan Cardinals men's basketball coaches All-American college football players All-American college men's basketball players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Coaches of American football from Ohio Players of American football from Youngstown, Ohio Baseball players from Youngstown, Ohio Basketball coaches from Ohio Basketball players from Youngstown, Ohio