Fritz Crisler
Herbert Orin Fritz Crisler was an American college football coach who is best known as the father of twoplatoon football, an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and defense. Crisler developed twoplatoon football while serving as head coach at the University of Michigan from 1938 to 1947. He also coached at the University of Minnesota and Princeton University . Before coaching, he played football at the University of Chicago under Amos Alonzo Stagg, who nicknamed him Fritz after violinist Fritz Kreisler.
Crisler was born in Earlville, Illinois in 1899. He participated in football at Mendota High School and was an outstanding student. Articles in the October 7, 1915 and October 19, 1916 Sun Bulletins of Mendota, Illinois, show him to be a powerful football player who sent shivers up and down the spinal columns of the opposing team. Crisler enrolled at the University of Chicago on an academic scholarship with plans to become a doctor. Crisler often told the story of his introduction to college football. Crisler recalled that he wandered over the football field as a freshman, where he saw the legendary coach Amos Alonzo Stagg directing a practice session. According to Crisler, Stagg knocked him over on the sideline while trying to get out of the way of an end sweep play. Stagg reportedly told the diminutive Crisler, If youre going to play football, why dont you put on a suit Crisler worked out with the football team for a few days, but gave it up to return to his studies. When Stagg encou
Source: Wikipedia