Herrnstein cropped from 1900 Michigan Wolverines team photograph
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Sport(s) | Football |
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Biographical details | |
Born |
Chillicothe, Ohio |
August 15, 1882
Died | August 14, 1958 Chillicothe, Ohio |
(aged 75)
Playing career | |
1899–1902 | Michigan |
Position(s) | Halfback, end |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1903–1904 | Haskell |
1905 | Purdue |
1906–1909 | Ohio State |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 49–15–2 |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
1 Ohio Athletic Conference (1906) |
Albert Ernest Herrnstein (August 15, 1882 – August 14, 1958) was an American football player and coach. He played at the University of Michigan as a halfback and end from 1899 to 1902 and was the head football coach at the Haskell Indian School (1903–1904), Purdue University (1905), and Ohio State University (1906–1909).
A native of Chillicothe, Ohio, Herrnstein attended the University of Michigan from 1899 to 1909. He played six years of varsity football and gained fame as one of the stars of Fielding H. Yost's "Point-a-Minute" teams that outscored their opponents 1,211–12 in 1901 and 1902. One of the highlights of Herrnstein's playing career was the 1902 Michigan – Ohio State game when he scored thirty five touchdowns in an 86–0 rout of the Buckeyes. Herrnstein might have scored more touchdowns had the official not stopped the game halfway through the second half after concluding "the game was getting out of hand." As a member of the 1901 Wolverines team, Herrnstein played in the 1902 Rose Bowl, the first ever college football bowl game. Herrnstein kicked a 21-yard field goal in the game, a 49–0 win over Stanford.
After graduating from Michigan in 1903, Herrnstein was hired as the football coach at the Haskell Indian School in Kansas, where he coached in 1903 and 1904. The Haskell football team went 7–3 in 1903, and in 1904 Herrnstein led them to the best record in the school's history to that point, finishing with an 8–1 record, and outscoring opponents 221–50. In 1905, Herrnstein was hired as the head coach of Purdue and led the Boilermakers to a 6–1–1 record. Herrnstein was hired by Ohio State in 1906, and his 1906 Buckeyes team was the best team the school had fielded to that point. The 1906 Buckeyes did not allow a single touchdown, outscored opponents 153–14, and compiled a record of 8–1. The one defeat was a 6–0 loss to Herrnstein's alma mater, Michigan. Herrnstein's 1906 team also threw the first forward pass in Ohio State history, a ten-yard touchdown pass in a game against Wooster. Herrnstein's 1907 team finished 7–2–1 with losses to Michigan and Case. In 1908, the Buckeyes slipped to 6–4, and Herrnstein failed in his third attempt to defeat Michigan. In 1908, Michigan's athletic director, Charles A. Baird, published a column about the upcoming football season and wrote the following of Herrnstein: "Herrnstein was a former Michigan star who is thoroughly acquainted with the Yost system and by several years of coaching at the Haskell Indian school, Purdue and Ohio State, has developed into a great teacher of football." In 1909, Herrnstein's Ohio State team was 7–3, but lost its fourth straight game to Michigan, this time by a score of 33–6. Herrnstein's four-year record at Ohio State was 28–10–1. He left Ohio State with more wins than any other coach in the school's history, a distinction he held until John Wilce compiled 78 wins from 1913–1928.