Elza Williams "Elgie" Tobin (May 7, 1886 – September 3, 1953) was a professional

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 with the independent

Youngstown Patricians The Youngstown Patricians were a semi-professional football team based in Youngstown, Ohio.McClellan (1998), p. 98. In the 1910s, the team briefly held the professional American football, football championship and established itself as a fierce ...

, and a

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

with the

Akron Pros The Akron Pros were a professional American football, football team that played in Akron, Ohio, Akron, Ohio from 1908 to 1926. The team originated in 1908 as a semi-professional, semi-pro team named the Akron Indians, but later became Akron Pros ...

of the American Professional Football Association (renamed the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

in 1922) where he wore number 8.

Biography

Prior to playing professional football, Tobin played

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 ...

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

and

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

. He lettered in football for the Mountaineers in 1907. At Penn State, where records list him as "Yegg Tobin", he lettered for three years (1912, 1913, 1914). The 1912 Penn State team compiled a record of 8-0, and has retroactively been recognized as 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 ...

, though most other selectors have named the 9-0 Harvard team as national champion. He was team captain of the 1914 Penn State team. Tobin played with Patricians from 1915 until 1919, while serving as an assistant coach for West Virginia. When the Patricians folded, Tobin joined the Akron Pros of the newly formed AFPA. In

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

, Tobin coached the Pros to a record of 8 wins, 0 losses and 3 ties, winning the first ever

NFL Championship Throughout its history, the National Football league (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national ...

. The very next season, he split the team's coaching duties with

Fritz Pollard Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard (January 27, 1894 – May 11, 1986) was an American professional football player and coach. In 1921, he became the first African-American head coach in the National Football League (NFL). Pollard and Bobby Mar ...

, making Pollard the first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

coach in the NFL. The 1921 Akron Pros started the year 7–0, but finished in third place with an 8–3–1 record. Tobin left the Pros after 1921 and was slated to coach a new Youngstown team in the National Football League, but the project died in the planning stages. He later served as player-coach of the semi-professional Elco Sterlings and worked at

Republic Steel Republic Steel is a Mexican steel manufacturer that was once America’s third largest steel producer. It was founded as the Republic Iron and Steel Company in Youngstown, Ohio in 1899. After rising to prominence during the early 20th Century, ...

. Including his time as co-head coach of the Pros in 1921, Tobin holds a winning percentage of .842, the highest of all APFA/NFL coaches to coach at least two seasons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tobin, Elgie 1886 births 1953 deaths American football quarterbacks American football fullbacks Akron Pros players Akron Pros coaches Penn State Nittany Lions football players West Virginia Mountaineers football coaches West Virginia Mountaineers football players Youngstown Patricians players Players of American football from Washington County, Pennsylvania