 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1913-07-22)July 22, 1913 McColl, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | July 23, 1959(1959-07-23) (aged 46) Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1933–1935 | North Carolina |
| Baseball | |
| 1934–1936 | North Carolina |
| 1937 | Tarboro Serpents |
| 1938–1939 | Snow Hill Billies |
| Position(s) | Tackle (football) Catcher (baseball) |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1936–1938 | Cornell (assistant) |
| 1939–1941 | North Carolina (assistant) |
| 1942 | North Carolina |
| 1943 | Iowa Pre-Flight (assistant) |
| 1945 | Jacksonville NAS |
| 1946 | Oklahoma |
| 1947–1955 | Maryland |
| 1956–1958 | North Carolina |
| Baseball | |
| 1937–1939 | Cornell |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1948–1956 | Maryland |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 109–37–7 (football)[n 1] 20–40–1 (baseball) |
| Bowls | 4–2 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Football 1National (1953) 1[2]Big Six (1946) 1SoCon (1951) 2ACC (1953, 1955) | |
| Awards | |
| Football AFCA Coach of the Year (1953) 2×ACC Coach of the Year (1953, 1955) First-team All-SoCon (1934) Second-team All-SoCon (1933) | |
| College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1984 (profile) | |
James Moore "Big Jim"Tatum (July 22, 1913 – July 23, 1959) was an Americancollege football andcollege baseball player and coach. Tatum served as the head football coach at theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1942, 1956–1958), theUniversity of Oklahoma (1946), and theUniversity of Maryland, College Park (1947–1955), compiling a career college football head coaching record of 100–35–7.[n 1] His1953 Maryland team won anational title. As a head coach, he employed thesplit-T formation with great success, a system he had learned as an assistant underDon Faurot at theIowa Pre-Flight School duringWorld War II. Tatum was also the head baseball coach atCornell University from 1937 to 1939, tallying a mark of 20–40–1. Tatum's career was cut short by his untimely death in 1959. He was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1984.
Tatum was born inMcColl, South Carolina, on July 22, 1913.[3] He attended theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he playedcollege football as atackle under head coachCarl Snavely. Tatum was named to the All-Southern Conference team as a senior in 1935.[4]
Tatum playedminor leaguebaseball as acatcher for theKinston Eagles.[5] The 6 feet, 3 inches and 230 pounds Tatum had the nicknames "Big Jim"[6] and "Sunny Jim".[7]
In September 1935, Tatum participated in training camp with theNew York Giants of theNational Football League at Blue Hill Country Club.[8]
In 1936, Tatum followed his football coach at North Carolina,Carl Snavely, toCornell University where he became Snavely's assistant football coach and also the head baseball coach for three seasons before returning to North Carolina in 1939. During this time, Tatum playedminor league baseball in the class "D"Coastal Plain League with the Tarboro Serpents in 1937 and the Snow Hill Billies in 1938 and 1939.[9]
Tatum enlisted in theUnited States Navy after one season as the head coach at North Carolina followingRaymond Wolf's departure for naval service in 1941. He was assigned to the Iowa Pre-Flight school where he was an assistant coach forDon Faurot, theMissouri Tigers head coach and the inventor of theSplit-T offense. Tatum used this offensive scheme with great success throughout his later career.
AfterWorld War II, Tatum accepted a position as the head coach at theUniversity of Oklahoma. He compiled an 8–3 in 1946 record before accepting the head coaching position at theUniversity of Maryland.Bud Wilkinson, a fellow assistant coach at the Iowa Pre-Flight School, was one of his assistants at Oklahoma and was promoted to head coach when Tatum left for Maryland.
At Maryland, Tatum compiled a 73–15–4 record for an .815 winning percentage. Maryland was undefeated in the 1951 season at 10–0, upsetting the top-rankedTennessee Volunteers in the1952 Sugar Bowl, 28–13. Tatum's1953 team won anational championship. That season, Tatum was votedAFCA Coach of the Year. His Maryland teams won conference co-championships in 1951 in theSouthern Conference and in 1953 and 1955 in theAtlantic Coast Conference. In addition to playing in theSugar Bowl, Maryland also played twice each in theGator Bowl and theOrange Bowl during Tatum's tenure.
In 1942 and from 1956 to 1958, Tatum served as the head football coach at his alma mater, theUniversity of North Carolina. There he compiled a 19–17–3 record; two 1956 wins were later forfeited for use of an ineligible player.[n 1] Tatum had originally returned to North Carolina to coach the freshmen football team in 1939 after spending time as an assistant atCornell University. His first stint is notable for his recruitment ofFelix "Doc" Blanchard, a son of one of his cousins, who played on the freshman team before enlisting and later starring as "Mr. Inside" forArmy.[10] He left his first tenure as head coach after the 1942 season to enlist in the Navy during World War II. His second tenure at North Carolina was cut short due to his untimely death.
Tatum died on July 23, 1959, inChapel Hill, North Carolina, at the age of 46. He had contracted an infection on July 13, and entered the hospital on July 18. On the day of his death, he fell into a coma in the afternoon and never regained consciousness. He was declared dead at 11:40 p.m.[11] His ailment was later determined to be arickettsial disease "similar totyphus andRocky Mountain spotted fever".[12] He was buried inOld Chapel Hill Cemetery.
Himself a pupil ofsplit T innovatorDon Faurot, Tatum's coaching tree included the following assistants who later held head coaching positions of their own:
A number of Tatum's players also went on to become head coaches:
Nearly every year since 1979, theAtlantic Coast Conference has awarded the Jim Tatum Award to the conference's football player who most exemplifies Tatum's strong belief in the concept of thestudent-athlete. The 2022 recipient is Dillan Gibbons, a graduate student-athlete earning hisMBA fromFlorida State University.[13]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina Tar Heels(Southern Conference)(1942) | |||||||||
| 1942 | North Carolina | 5–2–2 | 3–1–1 | T–4th | |||||
| Jacksonville Naval Air Station Fliers(Independent)(1945) | |||||||||
| 1945 | Jacksonville NAS | 9–2 | |||||||
| Jacksonville NAS: | 9–2 | ||||||||
| Oklahoma Sooners(Big Six Conference)(1946) | |||||||||
| 1946 | Oklahoma | 8–3 | 4–1 | T–1st | WGator | 14 | |||
| Oklahoma: | 8–3 | 4–1 | |||||||
| Maryland Terrapins(Southern Conference)(1947–1952) | |||||||||
| 1947 | Maryland | 7–2–2 | 3–2–1 | T–6th | TGator | ||||
| 1948 | Maryland | 6–4 | 4–2 | 6th | |||||
| 1949 | Maryland | 9–1 | 4–0 | 2nd | WGator | 14 | |||
| 1950 | Maryland | 7–2–1 | 4–1–1 | 5th | |||||
| 1951 | Maryland | 10–0 | 5–0 | T–1st | WSugar | 4 | 3 | ||
| 1952 | Maryland | 7–2 | 0–0[n 2] | [n 2] | 13 | 13 | |||
| Maryland Terrapins(Atlantic Coast Conference)(1953–1955) | |||||||||
| 1953 | Maryland[14] | 10–1 | 3–0 | T–1st | LOrange | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1954 | Maryland | 7–2–1 | 4–0–1 | 2nd | 11 | 8 | |||
| 1955 | Maryland | 10–1 | 4–0 | T–1st | LOrange | 3 | 3 | ||
| Maryland: | 73–15–4 | 4–1 | |||||||
| North Carolina Tar Heels(Atlantic Coast Conference)(1956–1958) | |||||||||
| 1956 | North Carolina | 2–7–1[n 1] | 2–3–1[n 1] | 5th | |||||
| 1957 | North Carolina | 6–4 | 4–3 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1958 | North Carolina | 6–4 | 4–3 | 4th | |||||
| North Carolina: | 19–17–3[n 1] | 13–10–2[n 1] | |||||||
| Total: | 109–37–7[n 1] | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||