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August 20, 1946: Football Coach Fielding Yost Dies at 75

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Football coach Fielding Yost died in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on August 20, 1946, at age 75. In 1895 and ’96, the Marion County native played tackle for one of West Virginia University’s earliest football teams while earning a law degree.

Yost coached football at Ohio Wesleyan, Nebraska, Kansas, and Stanford in successive years, before landing at the University of Michigan in 1901. In his first season at Michigan, the Wolverines went 11-0, including a 49-0 shutout of Stanford in the first Rose Bowl and the school’s first national championship. His 1901 team went didn’t give up a point the entire season while averaging 55 points a game on offense. That squad became known as the “point a minute” team, and Yost’s fast-paced offense earned him the nickname “Hurry Up.” Yost essentially invented the “no huddle” offense, the fake kick, and the linebacker position. Between 1901 and 1905, his teams went undefeated in 56 consecutive games, including a 130-0 shellacking of WVU in 1904—still the worst defeat in Mountaineer history. “Hurry Up” Yost retired from coaching in 1926 but continued to serve as Michigan’s athletic director until 1941.