Wesley Eugene Fesler (June 29, 1908 – July 30, 1989) 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 ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, 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 of football and basketball. He was a three-sport athlete 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 ...

and a consensus first-team selection to the

College Football All-America Team The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best college football players in the United States at their respective positions. The original use of the term '' All-America'' seems to have been to the 1889 College Footbal ...

three straight years (1928–1930). Fesler was later the head football coach at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

(1941–1942), the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

(1946), Ohio State (1947–1950), and the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

(1951–1953), compiling a career record of 41–40–8. He was also the head basketball coach at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

(1933–1941), Wesleyan (1941–1944) and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

(1945–1946), tallying a mark of 78–139 Fesler 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 1954.

Playing career

Fesler came to Ohio State from

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, 11th-most populous city in Ohio with a population of 60,068 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Mahoning ...

. At Ohio State, Fesler was a member of both Pi Kappa Alpha and

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

, earning a total of nine

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. A person who ...

s in baseball, basketball, and football. He was a charter inductee in the

Ohio State Varsity O Hall of Fame The Ohio State Varsity "O" Hall of Fame is the athletic hall of fame for The Ohio State University. Its purpose is to recognize individuals who have contributed to the honor and fame of the university in the field of athletics. An athlete must ha ...

in 1977.

Football

Many believe Fesler's greatest talents were in football. He primarily played end and was a consensus first-team

All-America 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 ...

selection in 1928 and 1929 and a unanimous first-team

selection in 1930. Depending on the game situation, he would sometimes move into the backfield as a fullback. In 1930, he was voted the Most Valuable Player in the Big Ten. Jock Sutherland, the

coach, called Fesler "a one man team. It is unbelievable how that boy can do so many things." In 1939

Grantland Rice Henry Grantland Rice (November 1, 1880 – July 13, 1954) was an American sportswriter and poet known as the "Dean of American Sports Writers". He coined the famous phrase that it was not important whether you “won or lost, but how you playe ...

listed Fesler at end on his all-time

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 ...

team. Fesler was inducted into the

in 1954. In 1934, high-speed

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

"Doc" Edgerton took the now-classic photograph "Wes Fesler Kicking a Football." The

stroboscope A stroboscope, also known as a strobe, is an instrument used to make a cyclically moving object appear to be slow-moving, or stationary. It consists of either a rotating disk with slots or holes or a lamp such as a flashtube which produces br ...

photograph demonstrated the dent in the ball at the point of contact.

Basketball

In basketball Fesler was a guard. He was the basketball captain as a junior in the spring of 1930, and the football captain as a senior in the Autumn of that year. He was Ohio State's first consensus first-team All-America selection in basketball in 1931.

Coaching career

Fesler ignored interest from teams of 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 ...

and instead pursued a career in coaching. He began his coaching career as an assistant to his Ohio State football coach, Sam Willaman, in 1931 and 1932. In 1933, Fesler accepted an offer from

as head coach of the basketball team and backfield coach of the football team. He stayed at Harvard until 1941. His stint at Harvard turned out to be the longest tenure of his career. In 1941, Fesler accepted an offer from

to be the head coach of their football team. Unfortunately, the Wesleyan football program was interrupted after the 1942 season by

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 ...

. In 1945, Fesler accepted an offer from Princeton as head basketball coach and assistant football coach. He later became the head football coach at the

in 1946. In 1947, he became the head coach at Ohio State. He resigned on December 9, 1950, citing "excessive pressure for winning football games". After leaving Ohio State, he became head coach at the

from 1951–1953. Fesler's 1949 Ohio State team was the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

co-champion and beat

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 ...

in the Rose Bowl. Fesler developed the talents of 1950

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 Vic Janowicz at Ohio State and two-time Big Ten MVP Paul Giel at Minnesota. Fesler had a stronger record as a football coach than as a basketball coach. His combined record as a major college football head coach, at Pitt, Ohio State, and Minnesota, was 34–31–8. His combined record as basketball head coach at Harvard and Princeton was 67–108.

Death

Fesler died on July 30, 1989, at the Palm Terrace Rest Home in Laguna Hills, California.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fesler, Wes 1908 births 1989 deaths American football ends American men's basketball players Guards (basketball) Ohio State Buckeyes football players Ohio State Buckeyes baseball players Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Harvard Crimson men's basketball coaches Princeton Tigers men's basketball coaches Princeton Tigers football coaches Wesleyan Cardinals football coaches Wesleyan Cardinals men's basketball coaches All-American college football players All-American college men's basketball players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Coaches of American football from Ohio Players of American football from Youngstown, Ohio Baseball players from Youngstown, Ohio Basketball coaches from Ohio Basketball players from Youngstown, Ohio