Coach Percy Haughton

One of the great coaches that not many remember is Hall of Fame inducted Percy Haughton. Author Dick Friedman and Harvard football correspondent and alumni wrote a biography on Coach Haughton to preserve their history on his coaching career and contributions to the game. The Coach Who Strangled the Bulldog: How Harvard's Percy Haughton Beat Yale and Reinvented Football is the book and Dick has joined us to share some of the histories in it. is the book and DIck has joined us to share some of the history in it.

Percy Haughton is one of the most dynamic people in football history that many people have no recollection about. His story is one that Author Dick Friedman dove into the history archives at Harvard University to gather the detailed story of this important character in the story of the gridiron.

Haughton had starred with Harvard in his playing days as the Cromson's star player and accomplished punter. His booming kickes were quite offensive weapon in the era of football before the forward pass. He later went on to become their coach, as his Harvard teams enjoyed an unbeaten streak (30-0-3) of 33 games in 1911-15. With the Crimson, Haughton was 71-7-5 over the 9 seasons. He later went to Columbia University to head thei program and extended his overall coaching record to 91-17-6.

His contrabutions are many including a structured practice schedule, position oriented drills as well as motivational pre-game pep rallys. He would become the first to deploy a hidden-ball trick and the "Mouse Trap" play, in which his defense would allow the enemy through the line before chopping him down from the side.

He was an early gridiron instructional author as well and shared his knowledge. In his book, FOOTBALL AND HOW TO WATCH IT, Percy wrote, "Football is a miniature war game played under somewhat more civilized rules of conduct, in which the team becomes the military force of the school or university it represents."

Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of early American football player and coach Percy Haughton fromDaly, Charles Dudley (1921) American Football, Category:New York: Harper, pp. 101.

There is so much more about Coach Haughton and we are glad that Dick Friedman has shared some of it with us in the podcast above as well as a detailed look at the man in his book,  The Coach Who Strangled the Bulldog: How Harvard's Percy Haughton Beat Yale and Reinvented Football

Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of Wife of Red Sox owner, J.J. Lannin & Percy Haughton, pres. of Boston Braves

The banner photo is of Original data provided by the Bain News Service on the negatives or caption cards: Mrs. J.J. Lannin & P. Houghton. Corrected title and date based on research by the Pictorial History Committee, Society for American Baseball Research, 2006. Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).

A Very Special thanks to information obtained from author Dick Friedman and his wonderful book, The Coach Who Strangled the Bulldog: How Harvard's Percy Haughton Beat Yale and Reinvented Football.