Jack Hennemier
Encyclopedia
John M. "Jack" Hennemier (c. 1913–1993) was an American football coach and scout
. He served as the head coach for the Calgary Stampeders
of the Canadian Football League
(CFL) for one and a half seasons, and also held assistant coaching positions at several colleges, most notably, the University of Maryland, College Park
where he helped Jim Tatum
coach the Terrapins to the 1953 national championship. After his brief stint in the CFL, Hennemier worked as a professional football scout. He attended Duke University
, where he played college football
as a center
and was named the team's most valuable player
.
and attended Savannah High School
. In 1931, Hennemier enrolled at Duke University
where he studied business administration and was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon
fraternity. He played college football
for the Blue Devils
under head coach Wallace Wade. Hennemier played as a center
and guard
, and he was a member of the varsity team from 1933 to 1935. As a senior in 1935, he was named the team's most valuable player
. In 1935, he was named to the All-Southern Conference
third team. At his heaviest, Hennemier weighed between 150 and 155 pounds, but because of his aggressiveness despite his small size, he was nicknamed "Scrappy Jack". He graduated with the Class of 1936.
In 1948
, he joined the coaching staff of Jim Tatum
at Maryland
, and Hennemier remained there as the "chief defensive coach" through the 1954 season
. He served as an assistant coach responsible for the defensive line, and during this time, Maryland won the 1953 national championship
. During Hennemier's first tenure at Maryland, the Terrapins compiled a record of 56–12–2, and outscored their opponents by a margin of 1,924 points to 599. Maryland also recorded 21 defensive shutout
s.
In 1955, Hennemier left Maryland to take the head coaching job with the Calgary Stampeders
of the Canadian Football League
(CFL). That season, the team posted a 4-12 record to finish last in the Western Division. Hennemier nearly signed Forrest Gregg
, a tackle
in the National Football League
(NFL) who Vince Lombardi
called "the finest player [he] ever coached." Hennemier flew to Dallas
to meet with Gregg, and over dinner offered him a $7,500 contract with a $500 signing bonus ($ and $, respectively, in inflation-adjusted
terms). When the Green Bay Packers
, who had also shown him interest, matched the contract and offered to match half of the signing bonus, Gregg agreed to sign with the Packers. In February 1955, the Washington Redskins
of the NFL sued Hennemier for $50,000 in damages ($ adjusted for inflation) for an alleged attempt to lure away two of its tackles. The clubs agreed to a truce and eschewed "raiding" each others rosters. Hennemier was fired during the 1956 season, and the Stampeders again finished last in their division.
In 1957, he returned to Maryland to coach the line and handle recruiting duties. He held that position through the 1958 season during the tenure of head coach Tommy Mont
. His second stint at Maryland was less successful than his earlier one, and the Terrapins compiled a record of 9–11 during those two seasons. Hennemier also held coaching positions at Duke, North Carolina
, Washington & Lee, and Savannah High School. and later worked as a professional football scout. He was inducted into the Greater Savannah Athletic Hall of Fame in 1970. Hennemier died on November 6, 1993 in Charlotte, North Carolina
.
Scout (sport)
In professional sports, scouts are trained talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports and determining whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the scout's organization...
. He served as the head coach for the Calgary Stampeders
Calgary Stampeders
The Calgary Stampeders are a Canadian Football League team based in Calgary, Alberta and named in reference to the Calgary Stampede. The Stampeders play their home games at McMahon Stadium...
of the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
(CFL) for one and a half seasons, and also held assistant coaching positions at several colleges, most notably, the University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
where he helped Jim Tatum
Jim Tatum
James M. "Big Jim" Tatum was an American football and baseball player and coach. Tatum served as the head football coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , the University of Oklahoma , and the University of Maryland, College Park , compiling a career college football record of...
coach the Terrapins to the 1953 national championship. After his brief stint in the CFL, Hennemier worked as a professional football scout. He attended Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, where he played 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...
as a center
Center (American football)
Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...
and was named the team's most valuable player
Most Valuable Player
In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...
.
Biography
He was born circa 1913 in Savannah, GeorgiaSavannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
and attended Savannah High School
Savannah High School (Georgia)
Savannah High School is located in Savannah, Georgia, USA.-History:Savannah High School building, was originally located on Washington Avenue between East and West Atlantic Avenues. The original building, built by the WPA and designed by William Bordley Clarke, Sr., was once the largest public...
. In 1931, Hennemier enrolled at Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
where he studied business administration and was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Sigma Alpha Epsilon is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is the only one founded in the Antebellum South...
fraternity. He played 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...
for the Blue Devils
Duke Blue Devils football
The Duke Blue Devils football program is a college football team that represents Duke University . The team is currently a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference , which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association . The Blue Devils compete in the Coastal...
under head coach Wallace Wade. Hennemier played as a center
Center (American football)
Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...
and 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 he was a member of the varsity team from 1933 to 1935. As a senior in 1935, he was named the team's most valuable player
Most Valuable Player
In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...
. In 1935, he was named to the All-Southern Conference
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference is a Division I college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision . Member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North...
third team. At his heaviest, Hennemier weighed between 150 and 155 pounds, but because of his aggressiveness despite his small size, he was nicknamed "Scrappy Jack". He graduated with the Class of 1936.
In 1948
1948 Maryland Terrapins football team
The 1948 Maryland Terrapins football team represented the University of Maryland in National Collegiate Athletic Association college football in its 28th season as a member of the Southern Conference. Jim Tatum served as the head coach for the second year of his nine-year tenure...
, he joined the coaching staff of Jim Tatum
Jim Tatum
James M. "Big Jim" Tatum was an American football and baseball player and coach. Tatum served as the head football coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , the University of Oklahoma , and the University of Maryland, College Park , compiling a career college football record of...
at Maryland
Maryland Terrapins football under Jim Tatum (1947–1955)
From 1947 to 1955, Jim Tatum served as the head coach of the Maryland Terrapins football team, which represented the University of Maryland in National Collegiate Athletic Association college football. Maryland hired Tatum to replace Clark Shaughnessy after the 1946 season...
, and Hennemier remained there as the "chief defensive coach" through the 1954 season
1954 Maryland Terrapins football team
The 1954 Maryland Terrapins football team represented the University of Maryland in National Collegiate Athletic Association college football in its second season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. . Maryland, with its rout against , 74–13, set an ACC record-high for scoring that stood...
. He served as an assistant coach responsible for the defensive line, and during this time, Maryland won the 1953 national championship
1953 Maryland Terrapins football team
The 1953 Maryland Terrapins football team represented the University of Maryland in National Collegiate Athletic Association college football in its first season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference . Maryland outscored its opponents 298–38 and recorded six defensive shutouts. Jim Tatum...
. During Hennemier's first tenure at Maryland, the Terrapins compiled a record of 56–12–2, and outscored their opponents by a margin of 1,924 points to 599. Maryland also recorded 21 defensive shutout
Shutout
In team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....
s.
In 1955, Hennemier left Maryland to take the head coaching job with the Calgary Stampeders
Calgary Stampeders
The Calgary Stampeders are a Canadian Football League team based in Calgary, Alberta and named in reference to the Calgary Stampede. The Stampeders play their home games at McMahon Stadium...
of the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
(CFL). That season, the team posted a 4-12 record to finish last in the Western Division. Hennemier nearly signed Forrest Gregg
Forrest Gregg
Alvis Forrest Gregg is a former American football player and coach in the National Football League. During a Pro Football Hall of Fame playing career, he was a part of six championships, five of them with the Green Bay Packers before closing out his tenure with the Dallas Cowboys with a win in...
, a tackle
Tackle (American football)
Tackle is a playing position in American and Canadian football. Historically, in the one-platoon system a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, offensive tackle and defensive tackle are separate positions....
in 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...
(NFL) who Vince Lombardi
Vince Lombardi
Vincent Thomas "Vince" Lombardi was an American football coach. He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight league championships and five in seven years, including winning the first two Super Bowls following the 1966 and...
called "the finest player [he] ever coached." Hennemier flew to Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
to meet with Gregg, and over dinner offered him a $7,500 contract with a $500 signing bonus ($ and $, respectively, in inflation-adjusted
Inflation adjustment
Inflation adjustment is the process of adjusting economic indicators and the prices of goods and services from different time periods to the same price level. To adjust for inflation, an indicator is divided by the inflation index...
terms). When the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
, who had also shown him interest, matched the contract and offered to match half of the signing bonus, Gregg agreed to sign with the Packers. In February 1955, the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
of the NFL sued Hennemier for $50,000 in damages ($ adjusted for inflation) for an alleged attempt to lure away two of its tackles. The clubs agreed to a truce and eschewed "raiding" each others rosters. Hennemier was fired during the 1956 season, and the Stampeders again finished last in their division.
In 1957, he returned to Maryland to coach the line and handle recruiting duties. He held that position through the 1958 season during the tenure of head coach Tommy Mont
Tommy Mont
Thomas Allison "Tommy" Mont is an American educator, university administrator, college football coach, and NFL player. He played quarterback for the Washington Redskins as a back-up behind Sammy Baugh for three seasons. Mont served as the head football coach for three years at the University of...
. His second stint at Maryland was less successful than his earlier one, and the Terrapins compiled a record of 9–11 during those two seasons. Hennemier also held coaching positions at Duke, North Carolina
North Carolina Tar Heels football
The North Carolina Tar Heels football team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in collegiate level football. In Carolina’s first 121 seasons of football competition, the Tar Heels have compiled a record of 646–488–54, a winning percentage of .566...
, Washington & Lee, and Savannah High School. and later worked as a professional football scout. He was inducted into the Greater Savannah Athletic Hall of Fame in 1970. Hennemier died on November 6, 1993 in Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
.