Eben Wilson Ebin " Tug " Wilson ( August 1869 – December 18 , 1948 ) was an American football player and coach . He was a starter on the 1901 Michigan Wolverines football team that outscored its opponents 550 – 0 and later coached football at Wabash College and Alma College . Early life and playing career . Wilson was born in August 1869 . He grew up in Merrill , Saginaw County , Michigan , and began his college football career playing for Michigan State Normal College ( now known as Eastern Michigan University ) at Ypsilanti , Michigan . During his senior year in 1898 , Wilson was captain of Normal ' s football team . After graduating from the State Normal school , Wilson enrolled at the University of Michigan as a law student . He played for the University of Michigan football team as a reserve in 1899 and as the starting center in 1900 . He was the starting right guard on the 1901 Michigan Wolverines football team that won the national championship and outscored its opponents by a combined score of 550 to 0 . After the 1901 season , the " Michigan Daily - News " wrote of Wilson : " He has a great many qualities which combine to make a good guard , but there is one that stands out above all the rest and that is - - strength . " He was also the University of Michigan ' s champion heavyweight wrestler and an expert boxer . At the end of the 1901 season , Wilson was selected as an All - Western player by Rhinehart . Coaching career . After playing in the 1902 Rose Bowl and graduating from Michigan , Wilson became the 15th head football coach for the Wabash College Little Giants located in Crawfordsville , Indiana . When the hiring of Wilson was announced , the college newspaper at Wabash reported : " Wabash college students believe that they have this year a coach who will do more toward strengthening the team and promoting interests of football in general than has been done in many years in the past . Coach Wilson is the man in whom we place this confidence . Through many years of experience on college elevens , he has certainly gained no mean knowledge of the find points of the game and what is more he has the ability of imparting this knowledge to the players . He states that in drilling the team he expects to follow closely the tactics which he learned in Michigan under Coach Fielding H . Yost , and , in addition , to teach some new plays of his own invention which he is sure are winners . " After Wilson took over as coach in the fall of 1902 , the Wabash team compiled a 2 – 4 – 2 record in the 1902 college football season . However , in 1903 , Wilson turned the Wabash program around and led the team to a record of 9 – 3 , including shutout victories over Indiana ( 5 – 0 ) , Butler ( 46 – 0 ) , Hanover ( 51 – 0 ) , and DePauw ( 10 – 0 ) , and an 87 – 5 win over Franklin . The 1903 Wabash team outscored its opponents by a combined score of 274 to 74 . and he held that position for two seasons , from 1902 until 1903 . In the final game of the 1903 season , Wabash was beaten by Notre Dame 34 - 0 . His career coaching record at Wabash was 11 – 7 – 2 . This ranks him 13th at Wabash in total wins and 12th at Wabash in winning percentage ( . 600 ) . Wilson became the football coach at Alma College in 1904 . In addition to coaching football , Wilson was the school ' s physical director and instructor of physical training for men . Family and death . Wilson was married to Grace Coy in 1897 . At the time of the 1900 United States Census , Wilson and his wife lived in Columbia Township in The Thumb region or Michigan . He worked at a planing mill . In 1910 , Wilson remained in Columbia with his wife . By that time , they had a son , Wayne M . Wilson . Wilson ' s occupation in 1910 was listed as a farmer . At the time of the 1930 United States Census , Wilson was still living in Columbia and working as a farmer . His son , Wayne M . Wilson , was living with him and working as a fireman for the Michigan Central Railroad . In 1940 , Wilson was living in Saginaw , Michigan , and working as a watchman . Wilson died in 1948 at Saginaw . He was 78 years old at the time of his death .