Harold Hess
Encyclopedia
William Harold "Bill" Hess (August 18, 1895 – November 9, 1982) was an American 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...

 and basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....

 coach. He served as the head coach at Loyola Marymount University
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola Marymount University is a comprehensive co-educational private Roman Catholic university in the Jesuit and Marymount traditions located in Los Angeles, California, United States...

 from 1923 to 1927.

Early life

A native of Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania
Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania
Belle Vernon is a borough located in Fayette County, Pennsylvania along the Monongahela River. The population was 1,211 at the 2000 census. The town is served by the Belle Vernon Area School District, which is actually centered in Rostraver, Westmoreland County.geographical anomaly: The...

 near Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

, Hess attended Belle Vernon High School
Belle Vernon Area School District
-Geography:Located southeast of Pittsburgh in rural Westmoreland and Fayette County, the Belle Vernon Area School District has a population as of 2000 of 20,127 residing in five political subdivisions: Washington Township, Fayette City, North Belle Vernon, Belle Vernon, and Rostraver Township. The...

. Hess went on to college at Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...

, where he played on the football team
Penn State Nittany Lions football
The Penn State Nittany Lions football team represents the Pennsylvania State University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference. It is one of the most tradition-rich and storied college football programs in the...

 in 1916 and from 1919 to 1920. He played as a fullback
Fullback (American football)
A fullback is a position in the offensive backfield in American and Canadian football, and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback...

 and was considered a "star punter" by The Pittsburgh Press. In 1919, during preparation for the rivalry game against Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Panthers football
Pittsburgh Panthers football is the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Traditionally the most popular sport at the university, Pitt football has played at the highest level of American college football...

, team captain Bob Higgins had noticed that the Panthers tended to rush ten players when the opposing team elected to punt
Punt (football)
In some codes of football, a punt is a play in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it touches the ground. A punt is in contrast to a drop kick, in which the ball touches the ground before being kicked....

. He devised a trick play
Trick play
A trick play, also known as a gadget play or a gimmick play, is a play in American football that uses deception and unorthodox strategies to fool the opposing team. A trick play is often risky, offering the potential for a large gain or a touchdown if it is successful, but with the chance of a...

 using Hess, the team's punter. Early in the game, Penn State lined up to punt, and when Pittsburgh rushed ten men, Hess lobbed a 25-yard pass to Higgins, who was running free, and he took the ball 92 yards for a touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...

. The play shifted momentum decisively in Penn State's favor, and the Nittany Lions went on to win, 20–0.

For his senior campaign during the 1920 season, Hess was moved from fullback to guard
Guard (American football)
In American and Canadian football, a guard is a player that lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team....

, and his teammates elected him as captain. At Penn State, Hess was a member of the Kappa Sigma
Kappa Sigma
Kappa Sigma , commonly nicknamed Kappa Sig, is an international fraternity with currently 282 active chapters and colonies in North America. Kappa Sigma has initiated more than 240,000 men on college campuses throughout the United States and Canada. Today, the Fraternity has over 175,000 living...

 fraternity and studied agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

.

Coaching career

In 1922, Hess served as the freshman team coach for Southern California, whose varsity faced Penn State in that year's 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...

. Because of his knowledge of the opponent, he helped prepare USC for the bowl game, which they won, 14–3.

In 1923, Hess was considered a candidate for the Long Beach State
Long Beach State 49ers football
The Long Beach State 49ers football team represented California State University, Long Beach from the 1955 through 1991 seasons. The 49ers originally competed as an Independent before joining the California Collegiate Athletic Association in 1958. By the 1969 season, the 49ers would join the...

 head coaching position. That year, he took over as head coach at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, California
Los 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...

. There, he introduced the system used at Penn State. In January 1928, he resigned from Loyola, where he compiled a 23–12–4 record.
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