Donald Eugene Heap (September 28, 1912 – March 21, 2016) 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 ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player and coach. He was twice selected as an All-American football player while playing for the

Northwestern Wildcats football The Northwestern Wildcats football team represents Northwestern University as an NCAA Division I college football team and member of the Big Ten Conference based near Chicago in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern began playing fo ...

team.

Early years

Heap was born in 1912 in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

, the son of Frank Heap and Rosella (Van Geem) Heap. He attended Evanston Township High School, where he played football, basketball, and baseball, and graduated in 1930.

Northwestern

Heap subsequently enrolled at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

in Evanston, where he played football and basketball, and was a member of

Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded in 1848, and currently headquartered, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, alo ...

. He played at the halfback position for the

team from 1936 to 1938. As a sophomore, he was selected by the

Central Press Association The Central Press Association was American print syndication, newspaper syndication company based in Cleveland, Ohio. It was in business from 1910 to 1971. Originally independent, it was a subsidiary of King Features Syndicate from 1930 onwards. ...

as a first-team halfback on the 1936 College Football All-America Team. As a senior, he served as the captain of Northwestern's football team, was named its most valuable player and was selected by

Paramount News Paramount News was a newsreel series that was produced by Paramount Pictures from 1927 to 1957. History The Paramount newsreel operation began in 1927 with Emanuel Cohen as an editor. It typically distributed two issues per week to theaters acro ...

to the 1938 College Football All-America Team.1939 Northwestern University yearbook, p. 163 (profile of Heap). In his three years at Northwestern, Heap was a triple-threat player, handling kicking, passing and rushing responsibilities and calling signals for the team. He averaged more than five yards per carry. Northwestern coach Pappy Waldorf said that Heap had one of the best football minds he had encountered.

Coaching career

After graduating from Northwestern, Heap was hired as the head football and baseball coach at

Illinois Wesleyan University Illinois Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Bloomington, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1850, the central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854 with the first building erected in 1856. History The in ...

, where he served for three years. His teams won two Illinois College Conference championships. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Heap served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander. His naval service included one year as an assistant coach for the Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks football team at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

. He also served at a naval aviation base in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

shire, England. In 1946, after his discharge from the Navy, Heap was hired by Northwestern University as its freshman football coach and assistant baseball coach. In 1947, Heap became head baseball coach at Northwestern and continued his position with the football team. Heap served two seasons as head baseball coach, compiling a 21–25–1 record from 1947 to 1948.

Head coaching record

Football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heap, Don 1912 births 2016 deaths American football halfbacks American men centenarians Illinois Wesleyan Titans athletic directors Illinois Wesleyan Titans baseball coaches Illinois Wesleyan Titans football coaches Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks football coaches Northwestern Wildcats baseball coaches Northwestern Wildcats football coaches Northwestern Wildcats football players College track and field coaches in the United States United States Navy officers United States Navy personnel of World War II Players of American football from Evanston, Illinois Coaches of American football from Illinois Baseball coaches from Illinois Baseball players from Illinois Military personnel from Illinois 20th-century American sportsmen