David M . Nelson David Moir Nelson ( April 29 , 1920 – November 30 , 1991 ) was an American football player , coach , college athletics administrator , author , and authority on college football playing rules . He served as the head football coach at Hillsdale College ( 1946 – 1947 ) , the University of Maine ( 1949 – 1950 ) , and the University of Delaware ( 1951 – 1965 ) , compiling a career record of 105 – 48 – 6 . During his 15 years as the head coach at Delaware , he tallied a mark of 84 – 42 – 2 and gained fame as the father of the Wing T offensive formation . From 1951 to 1984 , he served as Delaware ' s athletic director . In 1957 , Nelson was named to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Rules Committee and in 1962 became its Secretary - Editor , a position he held for 29 years until his death , the longest tenure in Rules Committee history . In this role , he edited the official college football rulebook and provided interpretations on how the playing rules were to be applied to game situations . Nelson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1987 . Early years and college . Nelson was born and raised in Detroit , Michigan . Upon graduation from Northwestern High School in 1938 , Nelson enrolled at the University of Michigan . As a 5 ' 7 " , 155 - pound halfback , Nelson played football for Fritz Crisler in the same backfield with fellow Northwestern alumnus , Forest Evashevski , and 1940 Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon . In 1941 , Nelson led the Wolverines in rushing , averaging 6 . 3 yards per carry . Nelson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1942 before serving as a lieutenant in the United States Naval Air Corps during World War II . He was awarded three battle stars for his service . After the war , Nelson returned to Michigan as assistant baseball coach , earning a Master of Science degree in 1946 . Coaching career . Nelson was head football coach at Hillsdale College in Michigan from 1946 to 1947 , assistant football coach at Harvard University in 1948 , and head football coach at the University of Maine from 1949 to 1950 . While at Maine , Nelson began to develop the Wing - T formation . When he took over at Delaware in 1951 , Nelson continued to develop the Wing - T along with his assistant coach , Mike Lude , and eventual successor , Tubby Raymond , who joined the Delaware staff the fourth year of the Wing - T offense . Delaware ' s success included winning the Lambert Cup , awarded to the top small - college team in the East , in 1959 , 1962 and 1963 . The 1963 team also finished the season as the top small college team in the nation in the United Press International poll . When Nelson retired from coaching after the 1965 season , his career record was 105 – 48 – 6 . Nelson ' s Wing - T formation was adopted by a number of other teams , including Evashevski ' s Iowa Hawkeyes , who won the Rose Bowl in 1957 and 1959 using the formation . Others who used the Wing - T with success included Paul Dietzel with LSU , Frank Broyles with Arkansas , Ara Parseghian with Notre Dame , Jim Owens with Washington , and Eddie Robinson of Grambling State . Nelson also brought a unique football helmet design to Delaware . In the 1930s , Nelson ' s future college coach , Crisler , was the coach at Princeton University and was looking for a way to allow his quarterback to easily locate pass receivers running downfield . At the time , there were no rules requiring schools to wear jerseys of contrasting colors , and helmets were dark leather , so distinguishing teammates from opponents at a glance was difficult . Crisler hit upon the idea of a helmet with a winged pattern on it and had the leather dyed in Princeton ' s black and orange colors . When Crisler moved to Michigan in 1938 — the same year Nelson arrived — he used the same design with Michigan ' s school colors . Nelson brought the same design , in the appropriate school colors , to Hillsdale , Maine , and Delaware . Delaware continues to use the " Michigan " helmet design to this day . Books and awards . Nelson authored a number of books on football , including " Scoring Power with the Winged - T Offense " ( co - authored with Evashevski , 1957 ) , " The Modern Winged - T Playbook " ( with Evashevski , 1961 ) , " Football : Principles and Plays " ( 1962 ) , " Championship Football by 12 Great Coaches " ( 1962 ) , " Dave Nelson Selects 99 Best Plays for High School Football " ( 1966 ) , " Dave Nelson Selects the Best of Defensive Football for High Schools " ( 1967 ) , and " Illustrated Football Rules " ( 1976 ) . Nelson ' s final book , " The Anatomy of a Game : Football , the Rules , and the Men Who Made the Game , " was a year - by - year chronicle of how the collegiate football playing rules evolved from 1876 to 1991 . It was published posthumously in 1994 . Nelson ' s awards include the National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award ( 1984 ) and the American Football Coaches Association ' s Amos Alonzo Stagg Award ( 1989 ) . He was inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame in 1978 , the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1986 , and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1987 for his coaching achievements .