Bennie Owen
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| Sport(s) | Football, basketball, baseball |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
July 24, 1875 Chicago, Illinois |
| Died | February 26, 1970 (aged 94) Houston, Texas |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1897–1899 | Kansas |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1900 | Washburn |
| 1901 | Michigan (assistant) |
| 1902–1904 | Bethany (KS) |
| 1905–1926 | Oklahoma |
| Basketball | |
| 1908–1921 | Oklahoma |
| Baseball | |
| 1906–1922 | Oklahoma |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1907–1934 | Oklahoma |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 155–60–19 (football) 113–49 (basketball) 142–102–4 (baseball) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 2 SWC (1915, 1918) 1 MVIAA (1920) |
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College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1951 (profile) |
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Benjamin Gilbert "Bennie" Owen (July 24, 1875 – February 26, 1970) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at Washburn College—now Washburn University—in 1900, at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas from 1902 to 1904, and at the University of Oklahoma from 1905 to 1926, compiling a career college football record of 155–60–19. Owen was also the head basketball coach at Oklahoma from 1908 to 1921, tallying a mark of 113–49, and the head baseball coach at the school from 1906 to 1922, amassing a record of 142–102–4. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1951.
Owen was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1875 and his family moved to St. Louis, Missouri when he was 12. After he finished school, his family again moved, this time to Arkansas City, Kansas. There Owen served as an apprentice to a local doctor for three years. He then enrolled in the University of Kansas in 1897 to pursue his medical studies and he soon discovered his knack for football.
Owen played football at Kansas under two excellent, but contrasting coaches. Wylie G. Woodruff, an All American player from the University of Pennsylvania came to Kansas to coach football in the fall of 1897. Owen got a part-time job working as a medical assistant for Woodruff and it was Woodruff who encouraged Owen to try out for the Kansas football team. Owen played under Woodruff for two seasons. Woodruff specialized in a tough, hard-hitting style of football. Woodruff's message to his players was "hurdle the wounded, step on the dead." Woodruff was released at the end of the 1898 season and Kansas hired Fielding H. Yost from the University of Nebraska. Unlike, Woodruff, Yost's style of football was based on innovation, speed, and cunning. Owen was the star quarterback for Yost's undefeated 1899 team.
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