Hall of Fame
Henry Williams was the inventor of the famous tackle-back
offense. In 1891, he used it to give Army its first-ever
victory over archival Navy. Williams was a teacher at
Siglar Academy in Newburgh, New York, ten miles north
of West Point, when he began making twice-weekly trips
to the Army campus in order to coach the Cadet varsity.
His tackle-back play was to pay off in huge fashion. A Yale
man, Williams had first offered the play to Eli coach Walter
Camp. However, Camp rejected the offer, and so it was
that Williams took his formation to Army. Williams later
enrolled in Penn's School of Medicine, paying his way
while acting as football and track coach at William Penn
Charter School. He then moved to Minnesota and began
building outstanding Gopher teams, including his own
Minnesota shift, the fore-runner of the Notre Dame shift
made famous by Knute Rockne. Williams played football
at Yale 1887-18900. He was on a team with Amos Alonzo
Stagg, Bum McClung, Pa Corbin and Pudge Heffelfinger,
all of whom made the Hall of Fame as players. He coached
Army in 1891 with a 4-1-1 record, coached a prep school,
Penn Charter, 1892-99, and coached Minnesota 1900-
1921. His Minnesota record was 136-33-11. In his first
16 years Minnesota won eight conference championships.
The teams of 1903-1905 had a 35 game unbeaten streak.
The 1903 team was 14-0-1 and outscored opponents 618-
12. The 1904 team went 13-0 and outscored opponents
725-12. While at Yale, Williams also was on the track
team and set a world record in the 120-yard high hurdles.
For two years he was editor of the student newspaper. At
Minnesota he served as director of athletics and instructor
in the medical school. After he left coaching following the
1921 season, he practiced medicine full-time. Henry
Williams was born July 26, 1869, in Hartford,
Connecticut. He died June 14, 1931
in Minneapolis. he was a charter member of the College
Football Hall of Fame.
