John Henry Outland (March 17, 1871 – March 24, 1947) 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 ...

player and coach. He played football at Penn College in

Oskaloosa, Iowa Oskaloosa is a List of cities in Iowa, city in, and the county seat of, Mahaska County, Iowa. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Oskaloosa was a national center of bituminous coal mining. The population was 11,558 in the 2020 U ...

, the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, and the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. He was twice named an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

while playing for the Penn Quakers, in 1897 as a tackle and in 1898 as a halfback. After playing, Outland coached at

Franklin & Marshall College Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) is a private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1787 as Franklin College and later merged with Marshall College in 1853, it is one of the oldest colleges in the United St ...

in 1900, the University of Kansas in 1901,

Haskell Institute Haskell Indian Nations University (Haskell or HINU) is a Public university, public tribal university, tribal land-grant university in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1884 as a residential boarding school for Native American children ...

in 1902 and 1906, and

Washburn University Washburn University (WU), formally Washburn University of Topeka, is a public university in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs as well as professional programs in law and business. The university enroll ...

from 1904 to 1905, compiling a career college football head coaching record of 31–22–3. He is the namesake of the

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best 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 g ...

, an annual award established in 1946 and given to the best interior lineman in college football. Outland was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

as a player in 2001.

Early life and playing career

Outland was born in Hesper, Kansas to Thomas Outland and Mahala Outland (née Kemp) into a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

family who settled in Kansas from Indiana around 1860 during the

Bleeding Kansas Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War, was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the ...

period as part of a larger Quaker immigration to Kansas in support of the Free State cause. He grew up mostly in

Johnson County, Kansas Johnson County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Kansas, along the border of the state of Missouri. Its county seat is Olathe, Kansas, Olathe. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 609, ...

in the towns of Lexington, Kansas (present day DeSoto, Kansas) and Edgerton, Kansas though. He was a member of the first football team at Penn College in

in 1891. Outland captained the team in 1892, scoring 32 of the team's 36 points. After starring in football 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 ...

at the

in 1895 and 1896, Outland went to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

to complete his medical education at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. There he became one of the few men ever to win All-American football honors as both lineman and the backfield player. He was picked by

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American college football player and coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage a ...

as a first-team All-American in 1897, as a tackle. In 1898, he was selected again, this time as a halfback. He was captain of the 1898 Pennsylvania team and was voted "Most Popular Man" at the University of Pennsylvania. Outland worked his way through college and spent his last two summers as a companion to rich young men who were alcoholics. To keep them away from alcohol, Outland took them on camping trips in the Wyoming mountains.

Coaching career

Franklin and Marshall

In 1900, Outland coached the football team at

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster ( ) is a city in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 58,039 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, eighth-most populous ci ...

for one season. His team produced a record of 4–5. He was the 11th coach of the program that began in 1887.

Kansas

Outland was the eighth head football coach for the University of Kansas Jayhawks located in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...

and he held that position for the 1901 season. His overall coaching record at Kansas was 3–5–2.

Haskell

In February 1902, Outland was selected as the football coach at Haskell Institute—now known as

Haskell Indian Nations University Haskell Indian Nations University (Haskell or HINU) is a public tribal land-grant university in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1884 as a residential boarding school for Native American children, the school has developed into a univ ...

—in Lawrence. The 1902 Haskell Indians football team compiled a record 8–2–1 with victories over

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and

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 ...

. After the victory over Missouri, Outland said his team could "beat

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

and some of the Eastern colleges also."

Washburn

Outland also coached at

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

. He was the ninth head football coach for Washburn and he held that position for two seasons, from 1904 until 1905. His overall coaching record at Washburn was 14–5. Outland's 1905 season ended with an experimental game with , where a new rule forcing the offense to earn a first down in three plays instead of four was in effect. The experiment was considered a failure.

Return to Haskell

In 1906, Outland returned as head coach of the Haskell Indian Nations football team in Lawrence. The team ended its season with a record of 2 wins and 5 losses, being outscored by a total of 96 to 53. Outland's overall coaching record at Haskell was 10–7–1.

Later life

After receiving his medical degree, Outland returned to Kansas in 1900 where he set up his medical practice first in

which led to his hiring as the head football coach of the University of Kansas. On January 28, 1902 Outland married Ethel Arnett Grimes in her hometown of

Dana, Indiana Dana is a town in Helt Township, Vermillion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 555 at the 2020 census. It is primarily a farming community. History Dana was platted in 1874 when the railroad was extended to that point. The town ...

. He then moved his practice to

in 1904 in order to coach the Washburn University football team. In 1906 Outland moved his family to

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City (commonly known as KCK) is the third-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As ...

where he joined the very first staff of the brand new Trinity-Lutheran hospital in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

as a general practicing surgeon. Later, in about 1916, while still on staff with Trinity-Lutheran hospital he moved his family across state lines to Kansas City, Missouri where he lived until his retirement. During his time as a practicing surgeon he extensively used his own plane, often flying with famous Kansas City early aviation pioneer pilot John Kerr "Tex" LaGrone, to visit patients in rural areas and far flung towns, being the first doctor in the Kansas City area to do so. While practicing medicine in the Kansas City region, Dr. Outland served for many years on the athletic board of the University of Kansas alongside other notable KU alumni, Dr. James Naismith and Dr. Forrest "Phog" Allen amongst others. Dr. Outland also served as a referee for college football games, including the 1907 Iowa State - Nebraska game in which he rendered the decision that negated an Iowa State field goal and preserved a 10-9 Nebraska victory. Upon his retirement he moved to Laguna Beach, California. He also served as a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the

United States Army Medical Corps The Medical Corps (MC) of the U.S. Army is a staff corps (non-combat specialty branch) of the U.S. Army Medical Department (AMEDD) consisting of commissioned medical officers – physicians with either an M.D. or a D.O. degree, at least o ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Kansas Relays

Outland was the founder of the Kansas Relays, having obtained the inspiration for that event at Penn, when as a student, he saw the

Penn Relays The Penn Relays (officially The Penn Relay Carnival) is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. In 2012 ...

just getting under way. For many years he held the post of honorary referee of the Kansas events.

Outland Trophy

Outland conceived the idea of the

because of his belief that interior lineman were not given enough recognition in college football. The trophy is the third oldest college football trophy. Selection of the winner is made by the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

Death

Outland suffered a stroke in March 1947 and died at his home in

Laguna Beach, California Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish language, Spanish for "Lagoon") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Located in Southern California along the Pacific Ocean, this seaside resort city has a mild year-round climate, scenic c ...

two weeks later on March 24, 1947.''California Death Records''.

State of California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, March 24, 1947 He was survived by his wife, Ethel, daughter Mrs. Mary McDougall of

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, and son John Grimes Outland of

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. Outland was laid to rest in Maple Grove Cemetery in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

near his parents' graves.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Outland, John H. 1871 births 1947 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football halfbacks American football tackles Franklin & Marshall Diplomats baseball coaches Franklin & Marshall Diplomats football coaches Haskell Indian Nations Fighting Indians football coaches Kansas Jayhawks baseball players Kansas Jayhawks football coaches Kansas Jayhawks football players Penn Quakers football players Washburn Ichabods athletic directors Washburn Ichabods football coaches William Penn Statesmen football players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army Medical Corps officers People from De Soto, Kansas People from Douglas County, Kansas Players of American football from Johnson County, Kansas Coaches of American football from Kansas Baseball coaches from Kansas