Clyde Williams ( American football ) Samuel Clyde Williams ( March 24 , 1879 - March 20 , 1938 ) was an All - American football player at the University of Iowa , and a football , basketball , and baseball coach and athletic director at Iowa State University . He is a member of both schools ' Halls of Fame . College career . Clyde Williams was born in Shelby , Iowa . He played football for the University of Iowa under coach Alden Knipe . Knipe was a stern disciplinarian , and friction soon arose between Knipe and the older players of the 1898 Hawkeye football team . After Iowa started the season 1 - 4 - 1 , Ralph Blackmore led the " Blackmore Revolt " , in which five upperclassmen quit the team . Knipe simply started younger players , including Clyde Williams , who was a freshman at the time . With Williams at quarterback , Iowa finished the year 2 - 0 - 1 , ending the season with a 6 - 5 victory over rival Nebraska . Nebraska had been heavy favorites and were coached by Fielding H . Yost . In Williams ' sophomore season in 1899 , Iowa faced heavily favored Chicago , coached by Amos Alonzo Stagg . The Hawks scored a touchdown against Chicago , while the Maroons could muster only a field goal . Since both were scored as five points in those days , Iowa settled for a 5 - 5 tie . Chicago would go on to win the 1899 Western Conference title with a 12 - 0 - 2 record . Under Williams , the Hawkeyes would not yield another point all year , winning their last seven games by a combined score of 194 - 0 . Iowa closed the 1899 season by defeating Illinois in their first ever meeting by a 58 - 0 score . That capped off an 8 - 0 - 1 season for the Hawkeyes , their first ever undefeated season . Less than 24 hours after the season ended , the University of Iowa accepted an invitation for membership in the Western Conference . Iowa has participated in the Western Conference , now known as the Big Ten Conference , since 1900 . Caspar Whitney in Collier ' s Magazine named Clyde Williams as the top quarterback in the West in 1899 . In Williams ' junior season in 1900 , the Hawkeyes won their first four non - conference games by a combined score of 198 - 0 . Chicago loomed as Iowa ' s first ever Big Ten opponent . Chicago had won the Western Conference the previous year and handed Iowa its only blemish on the season in 1899 . After a scoreless first half , the Hawks scored two quick touchdowns early in the second period and Iowa won , 17 - 0 . Iowa ' s next game was against Michigan , the 1898 Western Conference champions , in Detroit . The Hawkeyes led 28 - 0 before Michigan managed a field goal to prevent the shutout , the first points scored on Iowa so far in 1900 . But the Hawkeyes dominated the Wolverines and won , 28 - 5 . The victories over Chicago and Michigan allowed Iowa to earn a share of the Big Ten title with Minnesota in Iowa ' s first year in the conference . The Hawkeyes finished with a 7 - 0 - 1 record , their second straight undefeated season . After the season , Clyde Williams was named a third - team All - American by Walter Camp . Williams was the first player west of the Mississippi River to garner All - American honors . As a result , Clyde Williams is often referred to as " Iowa ' s first All - American " . Only three starters returned in Williams ' senior season in 1901 . Clyde Williams was named as Iowa ' s team captain for the season . The Hawkeyes won their first three games of 1901 before preparing to play fellow 1900 Western Conference champion Minnesota . 25 minutes before the game , Williams was told he was ineligible to play for the remainder of the season , because he had played summer baseball under an assumed name . A deflated Hawkeye team lost to Minnesota , 16 - 0 , losing their first game and yielding their first touchdown in 23 games . Iowa finished with a 6 - 3 record in 1901 . In four years as a starting quarterback at Iowa , Clyde Williams never lost a game . The Hawkeyes ' record in games Williams started , from the middle of the 1898 season to the middle of the 1901 season , was 23 - 0 - 3 . He earned 11 letters at Iowa , four in football , four in baseball , and three in track . Coaching career . After serving as an Iowa assistant football coach for two years , Clyde Williams went to Ames as an assistant football coach for Iowa State University . Williams served as the Cyclones ' head football coach for six seasons from 1907 to 1912 . During that time , he had a career coaching record of 32 - 15 - 2 . This ranks him fifth at Iowa State in total wins and fourth at Iowa State in winning percentage . In addition , he led Iowa State to two Missouri Valley Conference football titles in 1911 and 1912 , which are currently the only two conference football championships in school history . Williams was the school ' s first men ' s basketball coach from 1908 to 1911 , where he compiled a 20 - 29 record . He also served as Iowa State ' s baseball coach , and was their athletic director from 1913 to 1919 . Honors . Iowa State ' s home football stadium from 1915 through 1975 was named Clyde Williams Field in his honor . It was replaced when Iowa State moved to their current facility , Jack Trice Stadium . Clyde Williams was inducted into the State of Iowa Hall of Fame in 1956 . He is also one of the few people inducted into both the University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame ( inducted 1993 ) and the Iowa State athletics Hall of Fame ( inducted 1997 ) .