Billy Laval William L . " Billy " Laval ( January 15 , 1885 – January 20 , 1957 ) was an American minor league baseball player , baseball manager , and college baseball , football , and basketball coach . He held head coaching positions at the University of South Carolina , Furman University , Emory and Henry College , and Newberry College . He is the only South Carolina football coach to have produced seven consecutive winning seasons . In 2009 , " The State " called him " the greatest collegiate coach " in the history of South Carolina . Early life . Laval was born on January 15 , 1885 in Columbia , South Carolina . At the age of 18 , he coached baseball at Erskine College . The following year , he held the same position at before returning to Erskine . From 1904 to 1905 , he played baseball as a pitcher for Furman University . According to " The State " , there is no record of his enrollment at the school , however , which presumably made him a ringer . During the 1905 season , he proposed to his girlfriend Elizabeth , who responded " If you beat Clemson today , I will marry you . " Laval pitched Furman to a win , 2 – 1 , and the two were married soon after . He would later joke in speeches , " She has hated Clemson ever since . " Minor league career . In his early years , Laval played minor league baseball for a wide number of teams throughout the South in the South Carolina League , Carolina Association , Virginia League , South Atlantic League , and North Carolina State League . These teams included : the Greenville Mountaineers ( 1907 ) , Greenville Spinners ( 1908 – 1909 and 1919 ) , Winston - Salem Twins ( 1909 – 1910 ) , Spartanburg Spartans ( 1911 – 1912 ) , Anderson Electricians ( 1912 ) , Richmond Colts ( 1913 ) , Petersburg Goobers ( 1914 ) , Jacksonville Tarpons ( 1915 ) , and the Greensboro Patriots ( 1916 ) . His playing career was mediocre , with a . 253 batting average and 42 – 37 record as a pitcher . In 1907 , the manager of the Greenville Mountaineers , Tommy Stouch , signed Shoeless Joe Jackson , and to evaluate him , had Laval pitch against Jackson for five days of batting practice . He chose Laval for his assorted repertoire of curveball s and spitball s . Coaching career . Laval was described as an innovative football coach , and he implemented the " crazy quilt " offense , where pre - snap motion was used to create confusion for the defense . Whitey Rawl , Furman quarterback from 1925 to 1927 , told " The Columbia Record " in 1961 that opponents thought " Laval was either cheating or crazy . . . Nobody ever seemed to figure out which , but we beat ' em . " Laval also employed a play called the " crap shooters shift " , which was similar to the modern no - huddle offense . He also constantly tweaked his teams ' uniforms . At Newberry College , he modified the uniforms with targets to aid his color - blind quarterback ' s ability to distinguish his receiver s . Laval ' s superstitious nature also influenced his uniform tinkering . For example , in the 1931 South Carolina – Clemson game , he had his team change from their gray jerseys into their " lucky " red uniforms at halftime . Around 1912 , Laval was invited by Clemson coach Frank Dobson to watch their football game against Georgia Tech . The event piqued Laval ' s interest in the sport , and he began studying it in earnest . Despite never having played a single down of football , in 1914 , he became the coach of the Furman B squad under head coach W . B . Bible , brother of Dana X . Bible . Bible , however , was an English professor with little knowledge of the game , and Laval soon had the B squad capable of decisively beating the varsity team in scrimmages . After the season , the school sent Laval to be mentored by Illinois head coach and football innovator Robert Zuppke , who had won the 1914 national championship . In 1915 , W . B . Bible resigned and Laval took his place as the head football coach in addition to his duties as baseball coach . As an " all - year coach " , his salary was $ 1 , 100 , which was about the average at the time . He coached Furman football from 1916 to 1927 and compiled a 71 – 34 – 3 record . In 1920 , Laval returned to the Greenville Spinners to serve as their manager during the baseball season . In 1927 , Laval accepted a three - year contract worth $ 8 , 000 per year to coach at the University of South Carolina , which made him the highest - paid coach in the state . He coached South Carolina from 1928 to 1934 and compiled a 10 – 14 – 4 record . Opposing coaches began demanding rule changes to limit the pre - snap shifts and motion of the " crazy quilt " . Rules began to change toward the end of his tenure . In 1932 , Laval recruited four players from the 1930 Texas state high school basketball champions . South Carolina basketball coach Rock Norman did not want to play the new recruits ahead of his more seasoned players , so Laval agreed to coach the team for the season . Because of his lack of basketball knowledge , Laval had one of Norman ' s players , team captain Buck Smith act as an assistant coach . South Carolina ended the season on a fifteen - game winning streak and captured the Southern Conference tournament championship . Jeff Sagarin retroactively ranked South Carolina that season ' s third - best team in the nation . Norman returned to take over the basketball team the following year . In 1933 , the South Carolina athletic department reported a $ 15 , 200 deficit , and Laval reluctantly agreed to take a pay cut to $ 5 , 000 . However , the department ' s financial difficulties worsened , and the next year it requested Laval take a second pay cut to $ 3 , 600 , which he refused . The school allowed his contract to lapse after the 1934 season . Laval then moved on to Emory and Henry College to serve as its head football , basketball , and baseball coach from 1936 to 1937 . In 1938 , he returned to his home state to coach at Newberry College . He remained there until retirement in 1950 . In 12 season as head football coach at Newberry , Laval compiled a record of 45 – 61 – 5 . Later life . After coaching , Laval ran a chain of sporting goods stores throughout South Carolina . He also worked in the front office of minor league baseball teams in Rock Hill and Greenwood . He and his wife had three children : two sons and a daughter . His wife died on November 22 , 1956 after a long illness . Laval himself died shortly thereafter on January 20 , 1957 from a heart attack at his son ' s home in Columbia . The South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame inducted him in 1961 , and the Furman University Athletic Hall of Fame inducted him in 1981 .