Carroll Curtis Widdoes (December 3, 1903 – September 22, 1971) was an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at

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 ...

(1944–1945) and

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

(1949–1957), compiling a career head coaching record of 58–38–5. Widdoes's 1944 Ohio State team went undefeated and was retroactively named national champion by the

National Championship Foundation The National Championship Foundation (NCF) was established by Mike Riter of Hudson, New York. The NCF retroactively selected College_football_national_championships_in_NCAA_Division_I_FBS, college football national champions for each year from 1869 ...

and the

Sagarin Ratings Jeff Sagarin (born 1948) is an American sports statistician known for his development of a Sports rating system, method for ranking and rating sports teams in a variety of sports. His Sagarin Ratings have been a regular feature in the ''USA Today'' ...

Early life

Widdoes was the son of the Rev. and Mrs. Howard W. Widdoes. The Widdoes were missionaries to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

for the United Brethren Church, a predecessor denomination of the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

, and Carroll was born there in 1903. Carroll and his brothers and sister came to live at Otterbein in 1916.

Coaching career

After graduating from Otterbein College in

Westerville, Ohio Westerville is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, Franklin and Delaware County, Ohio, Delaware counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. A northeastern suburb of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus as well as the home of Otterbein University, the population was 39 ...

in 1926, Widdoes was an assistant football coach under

Paul Brown Paul Eugene Brown (September 7, 1908 – August 5, 1991) was an American American football, football coach and executive in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), the National Football League (NFL), and the American Football League (AFL). ...

Massillon Washington High School Washington High School, commonly referred to as Massillon High School or Massillon Washington High School, is a 9th to 12th grade secondary school within the Massillon City School District in the city of Massillon, Ohio. The school colors are ...

Massillon, Ohio Massillon is a city in western Stark County, Ohio, United States, along the Tuscarawas River. The population was 32,146 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Massillon is a principal city of the Canton–Massillon metropolitan area, whic ...

. He followed Brown to

as an assistant and assumed the head coaching job in 1944 when Brown joined the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

, leading the Buckeyes to an undefeated season. That season, he coached Ohio State's first

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

winner, Les Horvath. In two seasons at Ohio State, Widdoes posted a 16–2 record. After the 1945 season, Widdoes left Ohio State, choosing his

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

, Paul Bixler, to be his successor. Widdoes took over as head football coach at

in 1949, eventually becoming

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 ...

as well. In nine seasons as head coach, he led the Bobcats to a 42–36–5 record and a

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

title in 1953.

Later life and death

Widdoes retired in 1969 and moved to

Lake Worth Beach, Florida Lake Worth Beach, previously named Lake Worth, is a city in east-central Palm Beach County, Florida, United States, located about north of Miami. The city's name is derived from the body of water along its eastern border known as the Lake Wort ...

. He died at his home there on September 22, 1971.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Widdoes, Carroll 1903 births 1971 deaths Ohio Bobcats athletic directors Ohio Bobcats football coaches Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches Otterbein University alumni Sportspeople from Lake Worth Beach, Florida American people in the American Philippines