Gus Henderson
Encyclopedia
Elmer Clinton "Gloomy Gus" Henderson (March 10, 1889 – December 16, 1965) was an American football
coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Southern California
(1919–1924), the University of Tulsa
(1925–1935), and Occidental College
(1940–1942), compiling a career college football
record of 126–42–7. Henderson's career winning percentage of .865 at USC is the best of any Trojans football coach, and his 70 wins with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane
remain a team record. In between his stints at Tulsa and Occidental, Henderson moved to the professional ranks, helming the Los Angeles Bulldogs
of the American Football League
in 1937 and the NFL
's Detroit Lions
in 1939. Henderson also coached basketball
and baseball
at USC, each for two seasons.
on March 10, 1889. He graduated from Oberlin College
, and then coached at Broadway High School
in Seattle, Washington
.
(USC) in 1919, and set the Trojans football team on its first steps toward national prominence. He led USC to a 6–0 record in 1920, the team's first perfect season of at least three games, and to their first appearance in the Rose Bowl
in 1923. In the 1923 Rose Bowl
, the first Rose Bowl game to be held in its namesake stadium
, USC's faced their first opponent from east of the Rocky Mountains
. The Trojans defeated the heavily favored Penn State Nittany Lions, 14–3. Penn State arrived at the game 45 minutes late, and ten minutes after the scheduled kickoff, due a traffic jam. Henderson accused Penn State coach Hugo Bezdek
of doing so intentionally as a psychological tactic, and the coaches nearly began throwing punches. Later, they exchanged public insults after the game.
Gordon Campbell, a halfback
USC's 1923 Rose Bowl team, said of Henderson, "He put the Trojans on the map. He was a great coach when we needed one most, because we were just growing up."
Under Henderson's tenure, USC joined the Pacific Coast Conference
in 1922, and in 1923 moved from Bovard Field on campus to play in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
. He received his nickname from Los Angeles Times
sports editor Paul Lowry because of his tendency to poor-mouth the Trojans' prospects before a game. Gloomy Gus was a character in a popular comic strip of the era, Happy Hooligan
.
In regard to his offensive tactics which proved successful, Los Angeles Times sports editor Paul Zimmerman noted, "Until someone proves otherwise, it must be assumed that Henderson invented the spread formation, variations of which have become an important form of attack in modern day football."
During his time at USC, Henderson also coached the Trojans baseball team in 1920 and 1921 and school's basketball team for two seasons from 1919 to 1921.
Henderson left USC following the 1924 season, despite a 45–7 record, in part due to his inability to defeat rival California
in five tries. USC's loss to California in 1924 loss followed one week later by an upset at the hands of Saint Mary's. Henderson's contract was bought out at the end of the year. At the time, USC also had strained relations with Cal and Stanford University
, who threatened to sever conference ties with USC due to their belief that USC was using cash to recruit players.
USC quarterback
Chet Dolley was dismissive of the idea, noting, "That was really a joke, because the university didn't have a dime." He stated that Henderson "made his players responsible for bringing in athletes. I came from Long Beach
, so I was assigned to that area. So, naturally, I was in charge of getting Morley Drury
."
Among the other players who arrived at USC during Henderson's tenure were the school's first two All-Americans
, Brice Taylor
and Mort Kaer
, as well as future Pro Football Hall of Fame
r, Red Badgro
.
Taylor recalled of his former coach, "Not only was he a great coach, but he was a wonderful man. He was real people. You know, I'll never forget the day I was standing on a corner, shivering, because it was cold, and Gus drives by in his car. He sees me, stops and backs up, and says, 'What's the matter Brice, are you cold?' And I said, 'I sure am coach.' So he reaches into the back seat and takes out his brand new, blue Chesterfield coat and says, 'Here, take this, it's yours.' You know, years after I left SC, when I was teaching in the South, I was still wearing that coat."
USC finished its 1924 regular season with their first-ever regularly scheduled game against an eastern team, winning at home over Syracuse
, 16–0. The Trojans ended the year with a 20–7 win over Missouri
in the Christmas Festival Bowl
, held at the Coliseum. Howard Jones of Iowa
succeeded Henderson as USC's head coach in 1925, and controversies quickly abated, although California still canceled its 1925 game against USC, the only year since 1920 in which the teams have not met.
in 1925 and served at the Golden Hurricane
head coach for the next 11 seasons. There he oversaw the construction of the Skelly Field, which opened in 1930. Under Henderson, Tulsa captured five conference championships: the Oklahoma Collegiate Conference title in 1925, the Big Four Conference titles in 1929, 1930, and 1932, and the Missouri Valley Conference
title in 1935. Henderson's final record at Tulsa was 70–25–5.
and became the head coach of the professional Los Angeles Bulldogs
, which operated as an independent team in 1936 before joining the American Football League
in 1937 and capturing the conference title with a perfect 8–0 record. The Bulldogs returned to independent play in 1938 when the league folded. In 1939
, Henderson was hired as coach of the National Football League
's Detroit Lions
by team owner Dick Richards, who also owned Los Angeles radio station KMPC
. The Lions posted a 6–5 record in 1939, but the team was sold before the 1940 season, and, despite a three-year contract, Henderson was released by new owner Fred Mandel.
Again Henderson returned to Los Angeles, this time to take over the football program at Occidental College
. As head coach from 1940 to 1942, he posted a record of 11–10–2, but the program was suspended due to World War II
and he ended his coaching career.
of complications from pneumonia
. He was survived by his wife Kathryn and their daughter. His cremated remains were returned to Oberlin, Ohio. He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
(1919–1924), the University of Tulsa
University of Tulsa
The University of Tulsa is a private university awarding bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. It is currently ranked 75th among doctoral degree granting universities in the nation by US News and World Report and is listed as one of the "Best 366 Colleges" by...
(1925–1935), and Occidental College
Occidental College
Occidental College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887, Occidental College, or "Oxy" as it is called by students and alumni, is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges on the West Coast...
(1940–1942), compiling a career college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
record of 126–42–7. Henderson's career winning percentage of .865 at USC is the best of any Trojans football coach, and his 70 wins with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Tulsa Golden Hurricane football
The University of Tulsa's Golden Hurricane football team represents Tulsa in Conference USA. Tulsa is currently coached by first-year head coach Bill Blankenship. The football team was coached by Todd Graham until he accepted the head coaching job at Pittsburgh....
remain a team record. In between his stints at Tulsa and Occidental, Henderson moved to the professional ranks, helming the Los Angeles Bulldogs
Los Angeles Bulldogs
The Los Angeles Bulldogs were a professional American football team that competed from 1936 to 1948...
of the American Football League
American Football League (1936)
Sometimes called AFL II, the second American Football League was a professional American football league that operated in 1936 and 1937. The AFL operated in direct competition with the more established National Football League throughout its existence...
in 1937 and the NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
in 1939. Henderson also coached basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
at USC, each for two seasons.
Early life
Henderson was born in Oberlin, OhioOberlin, Ohio
Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, to the south and west of Cleveland. Oberlin is perhaps best known for being the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students...
on March 10, 1889. He graduated from Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, and then coached at Broadway High School
Seattle Central Community College
Seattle Central Community College is a community college located in Seattle, Washington, in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. It is one of the three colleges which make up the Seattle Community College District...
in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
.
USC
Henderson arrived at the University of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
(USC) in 1919, and set the Trojans football team on its first steps toward national prominence. He led USC to a 6–0 record in 1920, the team's first perfect season of at least three games, and to their first appearance in the Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...
in 1923. In the 1923 Rose Bowl
1923 Rose Bowl
The 1923 Rose Bowl, played on January 1, 1923, was an American Football bowl game. It was the 9th Rose Bowl Game. The USC Trojans defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions 14-3. Leo Calland, a USC guard, was named the Rose Bowl Player of the Game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were...
, the first Rose Bowl game to be held in its namesake stadium
Rose Bowl (stadium)
The Rose Bowl is an outdoor athletic stadium in Pasadena, California, U.S., in Los Angeles County. The stadium is the site of the annual college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl, held on New Year's Day. In 1982, it became the home field of the UCLA Bruins college football team of the Pac-12...
, USC's faced their first opponent from east of the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
. The Trojans defeated the heavily favored Penn State Nittany Lions, 14–3. Penn State arrived at the game 45 minutes late, and ten minutes after the scheduled kickoff, due a traffic jam. Henderson accused Penn State coach Hugo Bezdek
Hugo Bezdek
Hugo Francis Bezdek was a Czech-American sports figure who played American football and was a coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He was the head football coach at the University of Oregon , the University of Arkansas , Penn State University , and Delaware Valley College...
of doing so intentionally as a psychological tactic, and the coaches nearly began throwing punches. Later, they exchanged public insults after the game.
Gordon Campbell, a halfback
Halfback (American football)
A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...
USC's 1923 Rose Bowl team, said of Henderson, "He put the Trojans on the map. He was a great coach when we needed one most, because we were just growing up."
Under Henderson's tenure, USC joined the Pacific Coast Conference
Pacific Coast Conference
The Pacific Coast Conference was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pacific-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, the older league had a completely different charter and was disbanded in 1959 due to a major crisis...
in 1922, and in 1923 moved from Bovard Field on campus to play in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...
. He received his nickname from Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
sports editor Paul Lowry because of his tendency to poor-mouth the Trojans' prospects before a game. Gloomy Gus was a character in a popular comic strip of the era, Happy Hooligan
Happy Hooligan
Happy Hooligan was a popular and influential early American comic strip by Frederick Burr Opper.Happy Hooligan, the first major comic strip by already celebrated cartoonist Opper, debuted with a Sunday strip on March 11, 1900 in the William Randolph Hearst newspapers, and was one of the first...
.
In regard to his offensive tactics which proved successful, Los Angeles Times sports editor Paul Zimmerman noted, "Until someone proves otherwise, it must be assumed that Henderson invented the spread formation, variations of which have become an important form of attack in modern day football."
During his time at USC, Henderson also coached the Trojans baseball team in 1920 and 1921 and school's basketball team for two seasons from 1919 to 1921.
Henderson left USC following the 1924 season, despite a 45–7 record, in part due to his inability to defeat rival California
California Golden Bears football
The California Golden Bears football team is the college football team of the University of California. The team plays its home games at California Memorial Stadium, however the team played at San Francisco's AT&T Park in 2011 while Memorial Stadium was being renovated, the team will return to...
in five tries. USC's loss to California in 1924 loss followed one week later by an upset at the hands of Saint Mary's. Henderson's contract was bought out at the end of the year. At the time, USC also had strained relations with Cal and Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, who threatened to sever conference ties with USC due to their belief that USC was using cash to recruit players.
USC quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
Chet Dolley was dismissive of the idea, noting, "That was really a joke, because the university didn't have a dime." He stated that Henderson "made his players responsible for bringing in athletes. I came from Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
, so I was assigned to that area. So, naturally, I was in charge of getting Morley Drury
Morley Drury
Morley E. Drury , nicknamed "The Noblest Trojan of Them All," was a quarterback for the University of Southern California.-College career:...
."
Among the other players who arrived at USC during Henderson's tenure were the school's first two All-Americans
College Football All-America Team
The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...
, Brice Taylor
Brice Taylor
Brice Union Taylor was the first All-American football player at the University of Southern California.-High school career:Taylor played at Franklin High School in Seattle, Washington.-College career:...
and Mort Kaer
Mort Kaer
Morton "Mort" Armour Kaer , nicknamed "Devil May," was a world-famous athlete, as a track star and All-American collegiate and professional American football player....
, as well as future Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
r, Red Badgro
Red Badgro
Morris Hiram "Red" Badgro was a professional American football end in the National Football League for the New York Yankees, New York Giants, and the Brooklyn Dodgers...
.
Taylor recalled of his former coach, "Not only was he a great coach, but he was a wonderful man. He was real people. You know, I'll never forget the day I was standing on a corner, shivering, because it was cold, and Gus drives by in his car. He sees me, stops and backs up, and says, 'What's the matter Brice, are you cold?' And I said, 'I sure am coach.' So he reaches into the back seat and takes out his brand new, blue Chesterfield coat and says, 'Here, take this, it's yours.' You know, years after I left SC, when I was teaching in the South, I was still wearing that coat."
USC finished its 1924 regular season with their first-ever regularly scheduled game against an eastern team, winning at home over Syracuse
Syracuse Orange football
The Syracuse Orange football program is a college football team that represents Syracuse University. The team is a member of the Big East Conference, which is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I conference that is part of the Football Bowl Subdivision...
, 16–0. The Trojans ended the year with a 20–7 win over Missouri
Missouri Tigers football
The Missouri Tigers football team represents the University of Missouri in NCAA Division I FBS college football. The team has competed in the North Division of the Big 12 Conference since the conference's inception in 1996...
in the Christmas Festival Bowl
Los Angeles Christmas Festival
The Los Angeles Christmas Festival was a post-season college football bowl game played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California on December 25, 1924 between the University of Southern California and the University of Missouri...
, held at the Coliseum. Howard Jones of Iowa
Iowa Hawkeyes football
The Iowa Hawkeyes football team is the interscholastic football team at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have competed in the Big Ten Conference since 1900, and are currently a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
succeeded Henderson as USC's head coach in 1925, and controversies quickly abated, although California still canceled its 1925 game against USC, the only year since 1920 in which the teams have not met.
Tulsa
Henderson moved to the University of TulsaUniversity of Tulsa
The University of Tulsa is a private university awarding bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. It is currently ranked 75th among doctoral degree granting universities in the nation by US News and World Report and is listed as one of the "Best 366 Colleges" by...
in 1925 and served at the Golden Hurricane
Tulsa Golden Hurricane football
The University of Tulsa's Golden Hurricane football team represents Tulsa in Conference USA. Tulsa is currently coached by first-year head coach Bill Blankenship. The football team was coached by Todd Graham until he accepted the head coaching job at Pittsburgh....
head coach for the next 11 seasons. There he oversaw the construction of the Skelly Field, which opened in 1930. Under Henderson, Tulsa captured five conference championships: the Oklahoma Collegiate Conference title in 1925, the Big Four Conference titles in 1929, 1930, and 1932, and the Missouri Valley Conference
Missouri Valley Conference
The Missouri Valley Conference is a college athletic conference whose members are located in the midwestern United States...
title in 1935. Henderson's final record at Tulsa was 70–25–5.
Later coaching career
Henderson returned to Los AngelesLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
and became the head coach of the professional Los Angeles Bulldogs
Los Angeles Bulldogs
The Los Angeles Bulldogs were a professional American football team that competed from 1936 to 1948...
, which operated as an independent team in 1936 before joining the American Football League
American Football League (1936)
Sometimes called AFL II, the second American Football League was a professional American football league that operated in 1936 and 1937. The AFL operated in direct competition with the more established National Football League throughout its existence...
in 1937 and capturing the conference title with a perfect 8–0 record. The Bulldogs returned to independent play in 1938 when the league folded. In 1939
1939 NFL season
The 1939 NFL season was the 20th regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, NFL president Joseph Carr died, and Carl Storck was named to replace him....
, Henderson was hired as coach of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
by team owner Dick Richards, who also owned Los Angeles radio station KMPC
KMPC
KMPC is a radio station based in Los Angeles, California and is owned by P&Y Broadcasting Licensee, LLC. Radio Korea is a division of the Radio Korea Media Group. The station airs Korean-language programming...
. The Lions posted a 6–5 record in 1939, but the team was sold before the 1940 season, and, despite a three-year contract, Henderson was released by new owner Fred Mandel.
Again Henderson returned to Los Angeles, this time to take over the football program at Occidental College
Occidental College
Occidental College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887, Occidental College, or "Oxy" as it is called by students and alumni, is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges on the West Coast...
. As head coach from 1940 to 1942, he posted a record of 11–10–2, but the program was suspended due to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and he ended his coaching career.
Death
Henderson died on December 16, 1965 at age 76 in Desert Hot Springs, CaliforniaDesert Hot Springs, California
Desert Hot Springs, also known as DHS, is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The city is located within the Coachella Valley geographic region, sometimes referred to as the Desert Empire. The population was 25,938 at the 2010 census, up from 16,582 at the 2000 United States...
of complications from pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
. He was survived by his wife Kathryn and their daughter. His cremated remains were returned to Oberlin, Ohio. He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.