Tommy Hughitt

Tommy Hughitt

Personal information
Date of birth	(1892-12-27)December 27, 1892
Place of birth	Genoa, British Columbia, Canada
Date of death	December 27, 1961(1961-12-27) (aged 69)
Place of death	Bartow, Florida, United States
Career information
Position(s)	Wide Receiver, Halfback, Quarterback, Punter, Place Kicker
College	Michigan
Career highlights
Honors	1x George Halas: 1st team all-NFL (1922)
Head coaching record
Career record	34–15–7 (NFL)
Stats
Playing stats	DatabaseFootball
Coaching stats	DatabaseFootball
Team(s) as a player
1917 1918 1919 1917–1919 1920–1923 1924	Buffalo All-Stars (NYPFL) Buffalo Niagaras (NYPFL) Buffalo Prospects (NYPFL) Youngstown Patricians (OL) Buffalo All-Americans (NFL) Buffalo Bisons (NFL)
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1917 1918 1919 1920–1923 1924	Buffalo All-Stars (NYPFL) Buffalo Niagaras (NYPFL) Buffalo Prospects (NYPFL) Buffalo All-Americans (NFL) Buffalo Bisons (NFL)

Ernest Fredrick "Tommy" Hughitt (December 27, 1892 – December 27, 1961) was a National Football League utility player and coach. He was also an All-American quarterback for the University of Michigan in 1913.

Hughitt was born in Genoa, British Columbia, but grew up in Escanaba, Michigan, where he attended high school. Upon graduation he went to the University of Michigan, where he played quarterback for the Wolverines.

Hughitt at Maine, 1917

From 1915 to 1916, Hughitt was the head football coach at the University of Maine. He compiled a 6–7–3 overall record, including the Maine Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship in 1915. An article in The Michigan Technic commented on Hughitt's success at Maine:

"Due to the excellent coaching of 'Tommy' Hughitt, former varsity quarterback, the University of Maine football tam won the state championship this season. Hughitt showed the effectiveness of the Yost system of coaching by developing a bunch of green material, a tam which staged a real 'comeback' after a bad start last year. Maine is highly pleased with the work of Hughitt and has engaged him for this season."

Hughitt went professional no later than 1917, when he signed with the Youngstown Patricians of the Ohio League. When the Patricians ceased operations due to the war and flu problems of 1918, Hughitt moved on to Buffalo Niagaras and Prospects of the Buffalo Semi-Pro Football League, returning to Youngstown in a brief and abortive attempt to relaunch the Patricians in 1919.

When the Prospects joined the ranks of the APFA (later known as the National Football League) in 1920, Hughitt was retained as the centerpiece of the now-renamed Buffalo All-Americans. During his APFA/NFL career, Hughitt was a triple threat man and player-coach at the same time, playing quarterback, wide receiver, running back, punter, placekicker, and playing on defense all the while coaching the team. He finished his career with an impressive 29–15–7 record, two state championships (1918 and 1919), two top-three finishes in the NFL (1920 and 1921), and statistically finishing at or near the top of the league in several scoring and receiving categories in 1920 and 1921 (the one-two punch of Hughitt and Ockie Anderson was one of the most potent in the nascent league); he never had a losing season in his entire time as coach. He retired from football in 1924, shortly after acquiring a stake in his team. After Hughitt's departure, he handed over the reins of the franchise to Walter Koppisch, and Hughitt spent time as a league official.

In 1937, he became a councilman for the City of Buffalo serving for a term of four years. He died in Bartow, Florida. He was elected to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 1992. However despite his record, Hughitt has never been considered for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Hughitt wore the number 1.

Head coaching record

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs
Maine Black Bears (Maine Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1915–1916)
1915	Maine	6–3		1st
1916	Maine	0–4–3
Total:		6–7–3
National championship         Conference title         Conference division title

See also

• 1913 College Football All-America Team
• List of Michigan Wolverines football All-Americans

External links

• Tommy Hughitt at Pro-Football-Reference.com