John William Heisman (October 23, 1869 - October 3, 1936) was a player and coach of American football, baseball, and basketball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College, Buchtel College (now known as the University of Akron), Auburn University, Clemson University, Georgia Tech, the University of Pennsylvania, Washington & Jefferson College, and Rice University, compiling a career college football record of 186-70-18. In 1917, Heisman's Georgia Tech Golden Tornado were recognized as the national champion. Heisman was also the head basketball coach at Georgia Tech, tallying a mark of 9-14, and the head baseball coach at Buchtel, Clemson, and Georgia Tech, amassing a career college baseball record of 199-108-7.

Heisman was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1954, a member of the second class of inductees. Heisman was an innovator and "master strategist". He developed one of the first shifts. He was a proponent of the legalization of the forward pass. He had both his guards pull to lead an end run and had his center snap the ball. He invented the hidden ball play, and originated the "hike" or "hep" shouted by the quarterback to start each play. He led the effort to cut the game from halves to quarters. He is credited with the idea of listing downs and yardage on the scoreboard, and of putting his quarterback at safety on defense.  On December 10, 1936, just two months after Heisman's death on October 3, the Downtown Athletic Club trophy was renamed the Heisman Memorial Trophy, and is now given to the player voted as the season's most outstanding collegiate football player. Voters for this award consist primarily of media representatives, who are allocated by regions across the country in order to filter out possible regional bias, and former recipients. Following the bankruptcy of the Downtown Athletic Club in 2002, the award is now given out by the Heisman Trust.  Heisman Street on Clemson's campus is named in his honor. Heisman Drive, located directly south of Jordan-Hare Stadium on the Auburn University campus, is named in his honor as well. A bust of him is also in Jordan-Hare Stadium. A wooden statue of Heisman was placed at the Rhinelander-Oneida County Airport. A bronze statue of him was placed on Akron's campus. Heisman has also been the subject of a musical.

Did he break any football records?