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 and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player and coach. He played at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

as a halfback and

end End, END, Ending, or ENDS may refer to: End Mathematics *End (category theory) * End (topology) * End (graph theory) * End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) * End (endomorphism) Sports and games *End (gridiron football) *End, a division ...

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

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

(1905), and

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

(1906–1909).

University of Michigan

A native of

Chillicothe, Ohio Chillicothe ( ) is a city in Ross County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 22,059 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Scioto River 45 miles (72 km) south of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, ...

, 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 Fielding Harris Yost (; April 30, 1871 – August 20, 1946) was an American college football player, coach and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at: Ohio Wesleyan University, the University of Nebraska, the University ...

's "Point-a-Minute" teams that outscored their opponents 1,211–12 in

1901 December 13 of this year is the beginning of signed 32-bit Unix time, and is scheduled to end in January 19, 2038. Summary Political and military 1901 started with the unification of multiple British colonies in Australia on January ...

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's ...

. 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 inaugu ...

, the first-ever college football

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

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

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

Coaching

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

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, 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 Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. 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 Case or CASE may refer to: Instances * Instantiation (disambiguation), a realization of a concept, theme, or design * Special case, an instance that differs in a certain way from others of the type Containers * Case (goods), a package of relate ...

. 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 a ...

Charles A. Baird Charles A. Baird (January 17, 1870 – November 30, 1944) was an American football manager, university athletic director, and banker. He was the manager of the University of Michigan football team from 1893 to 1895 and the school's first athlet ...

, 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 college 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 ...

compiled 78 wins from 1913 to 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 The 1910 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau on April 15, 1910, determined the resident population of the United States to be 92,228,496, an increase of 21 percent over the 76,212,168 persons enumerated during the 1900 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, 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 aga ...

. 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