Hall of Fame
"Big Jim" Tatum got his first taste of football with Carl
Snavely's North Carolina Tarheels. Born in McColl, South
Carolina, in 1913, the 6-foot-3, 230-pounder made All-
Southern tackle before going on to coach at North Carolina,
Oklahoma and Maryland. His overall record for his career
stands at 100-35-7. After graduating from North Carolina,
Tatum went to Cornell with Snavely and stayed two seasons
as an assistant coach. Tatum then returned to his alma mater
as Bear Wolf's assistant, and when Wolf entered the Navy,
coached the Tarheels for one season before he, too, enlisted.
Following indoctrination, Tatum was assigned to the Iowa Pre-
Flight School where he was an assistant under Don Faurot. It
was there that Tatum mastered the Split-T offense, and it was
this set (with some variations) that he used so successfully
during his later coaching days. After leaving the service, Tatum
was named head coach at Oklahoma, posting an 8-3-0 record
in 1946. In 1947, Tatum accepted the head coaching job at
Maryland and compiled an outstanding 73-15-4 record with
the Terps, including one stretch of 19 straight wins. The
Terrapins beat top-ranked Tennessee, 23-13, in the 1952
Sugar Bowl, and Tatum was elected Coach of the Year in
1953. He returned to his alma mater in 1956 for three more
seasons before his death in 1959.
