Fritz Crisler Herbert Orin " Fritz " Crisler ( January 12 , 1899 – August 19 , 1982 ) was an American college football coach who is best known as " the father of two - platoon football , " an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and defense . Crisler developed two - platoon football while serving as head coach at the University of Michigan from 1938 to 1947 . He also coached at the University of Minnesota ( 1930 – 1931 ) and Princeton University ( 1932 – 1937 ) . Before coaching , he played football at the University of Chicago under Amos Alonzo Stagg , who nicknamed him Fritz after violinist Fritz Kreisler . During his 18 - year career as a head football coach , Crisler ' s teams won 116 games , lost 32 , and tied 9 . At Michigan , Crisler won 71 games , lost 16 , and tied 3 for a winning percentage of . 806 . Crisler introduced the distinctive winged football helmet to the Michigan Wolverines in 1938 . The Michigan football team has worn a version of the design ever since . Crisler had first introduced the winged helmet design at Princeton in 1935 . He was also the head basketball coach at Princeton for two seasons from 1932 to 1934 , tallying a mark of 32 – 11 . Crisler ' s 1947 Michigan Wolverines football team , dubbed the " Mad Magicians , " had an undefeated campaign , ending with a 49 – 0 triumph over Southern California in the 1948 Rose Bowl . Afterwards , the team was selected the national champion by the Associated Press in an unprecedented post - bowl vote . Crisler retired from coaching after the 1947 season and served as the University of Michigan ' s athletic director from 1941 to 1968 . Crisler was also a member of the NCAA football rules committee for 41 years and its chairman for nine years . Crisler Arena , home of the Michigan men ' s and women ' s basketball teams , was renamed in honor of Crisler in 1970 . In addition , one " extra " seat in Michigan Stadium was added to honor Crisler for his special place in the history of Michigan football . However , its location is unknown . University of Chicago athlete . Crisler was born in Earlville , Illinois in 1899 . He participated in football at Mendota High School and was an outstanding student . Articles in the October 7 , 1915 and October 19 , 1916 " Sun Bulletins " of Mendota , Illinois , show him to be a powerful football player who , " sent shivers up and down the spinal colums of the opposing team . " Crisler enrolled at the University of Chicago on an academic scholarship with plans to become a doctor . Crisler often told the story of his introduction to college football . Crisler recalled that he wandered over the football field as a freshman , where he saw the legendary coach , Amos Alonzo Stagg , directing a practice session . According to Crisler , Stagg knocked him over on the sideline while trying to get out of the way of an end sweep play . Stagg reportedly told the diminutive Crisler , " If you ' re going to play football , why don ' t you put on a suit ? " Crisler worked out with the football team for a few days , but Crisler gave it up to return to his studies . When Stagg encountered Crisler a short time later on campus , Stagg said , " I would have never picked you for a quitter . " Crisler recalled that he returned to the team in response to Stagg ' s taunt and noted , " I ' ve been in athletics ever since . " Stagg was also responsible for Crisler ' s nickname . After Crisler fouled up four consecutive plays during a practice session , Stagg told him , " Crisler , from now on you are ' Fritz ' after the master violinist . Not because you resemble him , but because you are so different . " Crisler played at the end position for Stagg ' s Chicago Maroons from 1919 to 1921 . In 1921 , he was selected as a first - team All - American by Walter Eckersall , a second - team All - American by Football World ( based on a poll of 267 coaches ) , and a third - team All - American by Walter Camp . Crisler became an all - around athletic star at the University of Chicago , winning a total of nine varsity letter s , three each in football , baseball and basketball teams . Football coach . Chicago ( 1922 – 1929 ) . After receiving his degree from the University of Chicago in 1922 , Crisler accepted a position as assistant coach at his alma mater , working as an assistant to his mentor , Amos Alonzo Stagg . Crisler remained an assistant coach at Chicago for eight years . By 1925 , he was also an assistant athletic director at Chicago and was reportedly " being groomed to replace Old Man Stagg , when the veteran coach retires . " Minnesota ( 1930 – 1931 ) . In 1930 , Crisler was hired as the athletic director and head football coach at the University of Minnesota . Crisler was the head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers football program for two seasons in 1930 and 1931 . In the 1930 season , Crisler ' s team won three games , lost four and tied one . Guard Biggie Munn was awarded the Team MVP Award . In 1931 , Crisler ' s team improved to a record of 7 – 3 . Minnesota guard Biggie Munn was named a first - team All - American in 1931 and received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the most valuable player of the Big Ten . Munn later became Crisler ' s rival as the football coach at Michigan State University from 1947 to 1953 . Princeton ( 1932 – 1937 ) . Crisler was the head football coach at Princeton from 1932 to 1937 where he compiled a record of 35 – 9 – 5 . Two of his teams , the 1933 and 1935 teams , compiled perfect 9 – 0 records and were recognized by some as national champions . The 1933 team was invited to the Rose Bowl , but administration turned down the offer . Columbia , which has lost only one game , to Princeton , accepted the invitation and defeated Stanford . Crisler introduced two innovations that later came into general usage . The first was his development of a faster starting stance for offensive linemen , and the second was a practice of having his quarterback stand apart from the huddle until ready to call a play . Michigan ( 1938 – 1947 ) . Crisler served as Michigan ' s head football coach from 1938 to 1947 . When he took over as head coach at Michigan in 1938 , Crisler introduced the distinctive winged football helmet which has since become one of the symbols of Michigan Wolverines athletics programs . Crisler developed a similar winged helmet pattern in 1935 while coaching at Princeton . At Michigan , he added to the innovation by painting the helmets maize and blue , thus highlighting the winged pattern . Crisler created the distinctive design to help his halfbacks find receivers downfield . Crisler later recalled , " There was a tendency to use different colored helmets just for receivers in those days , but I always thought that would be as helpful for the defense as for the offense . " In his ten years as coach , the Wolverines compiled a record of 71 – 16 – 3 . His Michigan teams finished lower than second in the Big Ten Conference only twice . The 1943 team won the school ' s first Big Ten championship in ten years with a 8 – 1 record , losing only to Notre Dame , a game which would spark another 30 years of Michigan refusing to schedule a game against Notre Dame . His 80 . 5 winning percentage ranks him second in school history behind only Fielding H . Yost ( minimum 50 games coached ) . Crisler ' s most noted players at Michigan included Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon , Bob Chappuis , Forest Evashevski ( who later became athletic director at Iowa ) , Bump Elliott , Pete Elliott , Albert Wistert and Julius Franks . While coaching at Michigan , Crisler developed the platoon system in which separate groups play offense and defense . He unveiled the system in 1945 in a game played at Yankee Stadium against Army . Before Crisler switched to the platoon system , players handled both offensive and defensive duties with only occasional substitutions . Using a single wing formation , Crisler also conceived the buck lateral series and the spinning fullback play . Crisler ' s greatest success as head football coach at Michigan came with the 1947 Michigan Wolverines football team . The 1947 team , known as the " Mad Magicians " due to Crisler ' s complex shifts , stunts , and schemes , went undefeated and untied with a 10 – 0 record . Though ranked # 2 in the Associated Press poll at the end of the regular season , the Wolverines defeated the USC Trojans by a score of 49 – 0 in the 1948 Rose Bowl game , and were selected as the nation ' s # 1 team by a 226 – 119 margin over Notre Dame in an unprecedented post - bowl Associated Press poll . The 1947 team has been selected as the best team in the history of Michigan football . Led by team captain , Bruce Hilkene , quarterback Howard Yerges , and All - American halfbacks Bob Chappuis and Bump Elliott , the 1947 Wolverines outscored their opponents , 394 – 53 . The Wolverines victory in the 1948 Rose Bowl tied Michigan ' s final in the first ever 1902 Rose Bowl , as the most points scored , and the largest margin of victory , in the history of the " Granddaddy of Them All " . The 1947 Michigan team was also the first fully to embrace the concept of defensive and offensive specialization . Crisler established fully separate offensive and defensive squads . Only Bump Elliott and Jack Weisenberger played on both squads . In November 1947 , Time magazine ran a feature article about the 1947 Wolverines ( with Bob Chappuis ’ photograph on the cover ) called , " The Specialist . " The " Time " article focused on the new era of specialization marked by Crisler ’ s decision to field separate offensive and defensive units . The article noted : " Michigan ' s sleight - of - hand repertory is a baffling assortment of double reverses , buck - reverse laterals , crisscrosses , quick - hits and spins from seven different formations . Sometimes , watching from the side lines , even Coach Crisler isn ' t sure which Michigan man has the ball . Michigan plays one team on offense , one on defense . . . Whenever Michigan ' s defensive team regains the ball , Crisler orders : ' Offense unit , up and out , ' and nine men pour onto the field at once . " One of the stars of the 1947 team , Dan Dworsky , went on to a career as an architect and designed Crisler Arena . Interviewed in 2007 , Dworsky recalled : " Crisler was not only an intellectual in strategy , but also in the way he ran practices . . . . He ran practices rigidly and we called him ' The Lord . ' He would allow it to rain , or not . He was a Douglas MacArthur - type figure , handsome and rigid . . . . I sculpted him and gave him the bust in 1971 . " Dworsky also kept another bust of Crisler in his office . University of Michigan athletic director ( 1941 – 1968 ) . When Crisler was recruited from Princeton to Michigan , it was agreed that he would also take over as Michigan ' s athletic director when Fielding H . Yost retired . Yost retired in 1941 , and Crisler became the athletic director at that time . He continued to hold that position for 27 years until his retirement in 1968 . He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1952 . During Crisler ' s tenure as athletic director , the university ' s athletic programs experienced a period of extraordinary success , in every branch of varsity sports sports . Highlights of the athletic programs during the 28 years of the Crisler era include the following : As athletic director , Crisler also led two expansions of Michigan Stadium , helping to make it the nation ' s largest college stadium . The first expansion in 1949 involved the installation of permanent steel stands around the stadium concourse , increasing the seating capacity to 97 , 239 . In 1956 , renovations expanded the seating capacity to more than 101 , 001 . The 1956 expansion included 542 seats in a new communications center and 1 , 247 seats in a new press box . According to a newspaper article quoting an Athletic Department staff member , " Fritz wanted to end up with a figure of 100 , 001 , but he came up with a thousand seats too many . But he still got that 001 at the end . " Through subsequent renovations , Michigan has continued the tradition of ending official seating capacity numbers with the digit 1 , and the final seat has been said to be reserved in Crisler ' s honor . Crisler also invested revenues from the school ' s successful football program to build a $ 1 million pool for the women ' s swimming team , a men ' s varsity competition pool , a modern baseball grandstand and a large press box at Michigan Stadium . With the success of the Michigan Wolverines men ' s basketball under the leadership of Cazzie Russell , Crisler led the effort to build a new basketball arena in the mid - 1960s . The new arena was opened in 1968 at a cost of $ 7 . 2 million and with seating for 15 , 000 . The new arena was originally named the University Events Building . In February 1970 , the arena was renamed Crisler Arena in honor of Crisler . At the time of Crisler ' s retirement in 1968 , the Associated Press credited him with helping to " lift college football from a ' rah , rah ' campus pastime in the 1930s into the modern multimillion dollar enterprise of today . " Crisler was succeeded as Michigan ' s athletic director by Don Canham , whom Crisler had hired as the school ' s track coach in the late 1940s . At the time of his appointment , Canham noted that replacing Crisler was " a little like stepping up to bat after Babe Ruth . " Later years . After retiring in 1968 , Crisler continued to live in Ann Arbor . When Bo Schembechler took over as Michigan ' s football coach in 1969 , he recalled that he went out of his way to get to know Crisler . Schembechler considered Crisler " a giant " and made time to go over to Crisler ' s house and sit in his basement , listening to Crisler ' s theories and stories . In 1978 , Crisler and Fielding H . Yost became the first coaches inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor ; the only persons inducted ahead of Crisler and Yost were athletes , Gerald R . Ford , Bill Freehan , Tom Harmon , Ron Kramer , Bennie Oosterbaan , Cazzie Russell , and Bob Ufer . He died in Ann Arbor in 1982 at age 83 . He had been hospitalized twice in his final months , once for pneumonia .