Gus Henderson Elmer Clinton " Gloomy Gus " Henderson ( March 10 , 1889 – December 16 , 1965 ) was an American football coach . He served as the head coach at the University of Southern California ( 1919 – 1924 ) , the University of Tulsa ( 1925 – 1935 ) , and Occidental College ( 1940 – 1942 ) , compiling a career college football record of 126 – 42 – 7 . Henderson ' s career winning percentage of . 865 at USC is the best of any Trojans football coach , and his 70 wins with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane remain a team record . In between his stints at Tulsa and Occidental , Henderson moved to the professional ranks , helming the Los Angeles Bulldogs of the American Football League in 1937 and the NFL ' s Detroit Lions in 1939 . Henderson also coached basketball and baseball at USC , each for two seasons . Early life . Henderson was born in Oberlin , Ohio on March 10 , 1889 . He graduated from Oberlin College , and then coached at Broadway High School in Seattle , Washington . USC . Henderson arrived at the University of Southern California ( USC ) in 1919 , and set the Trojans football team on its first steps toward national prominence . He led USC to a 6 – 0 record in 1920 , the team ' s first perfect season of at least three games , and to their first appearance in the Rose Bowl in 1923 . In the 1923 Rose Bowl , the first Rose Bowl game to be held in its namesake stadium , USC ' s faced their first opponent from east of the Rocky Mountains . The Trojans defeated the heavily favored Penn State Nittany Lions , 14 – 3 . Penn State arrived at the game 45 minutes late , and ten minutes after the scheduled kickoff , due a traffic jam . Henderson accused Penn State coach Hugo Bezdek of doing so intentionally as a psychological tactic , and the coaches nearly began throwing punches . Later , they exchanged public insults after the game . Gordon Campbell , a halfback USC ' s 1923 Rose Bowl team , said of Henderson , " He put the Trojans on the map . He was a great coach when we needed one most , because we were just growing up . " Under Henderson ' s tenure , USC joined the Pacific Coast Conference in 1922 , and in 1923 moved from Bovard Field on campus to play in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum . He received his nickname from " Los Angeles Times " sports editor Paul Lowry because of his tendency to poor - mouth the Trojans ' prospects before a game . Gloomy Gus was a character in a popular comic strip of the era , " Happy Hooligan " . In regard to his offensive tactics which proved successful , " Los Angeles Times " sports editor Paul Zimmerman noted , " Until someone proves otherwise , it must be assumed that Henderson invented the spread formation , variations of which have become an important form of attack in modern day football . " During his time at USC , Henderson also coached the Trojans baseball team in 1920 and 1921 and school ' s basketball team for two seasons from 1919 to 1921 . Henderson left USC following the 1924 season , despite a 45 – 7 record , in part due to his inability to defeat rival California in five tries . USC ' s loss to California in 1924 loss followed one week later by an upset at the hands of Saint Mary ' s . Henderson ' s contract was bought out at the end of the year . At the time , USC also had strained relations with Cal and Stanford University , who threatened to sever conference ties with USC due to their belief that USC was using cash to recruit players . USC quarterback Chet Dolley was dismissive of the idea , noting , " That was really a joke , because the university didn ' t have a dime . " He stated that Henderson " made his players responsible for bringing in athletes . I came from Long Beach , so I was assigned to that area . So , naturally , I was in charge of getting Morley Drury . " Among the other players who arrived at USC during Henderson ' s tenure were the school ' s first two All - Americans , Brice Taylor and Mort Kaer , as well as future Pro Football Hall of Fame r , Red Badgro . Taylor recalled of his former coach , " Not only was he a great coach , but he was a wonderful man . He was real people . You know , I ' ll never forget the day I was standing on a corner , shivering , because it was cold , and Gus drives by in his car . He sees me , stops and backs up , and says , ' What ' s the matter Brice , are you cold ? ' And I said , ' I sure am coach . ' So he reaches into the back seat and takes out his brand new , blue Chesterfield coat and says , ' Here , take this , it ' s yours . ' You know , years after I left SC , when I was teaching in the South , I was still wearing that coat . " USC finished its 1924 regular season with their first - ever regularly scheduled game against an eastern team , winning at home over Syracuse , 16 – 0 . The Trojans ended the year with a 20 – 7 win over Missouri in the Christmas Festival Bowl , held at the Coliseum . Howard Jones of Iowa succeeded Henderson as USC ' s head coach in 1925 , and controversies quickly abated , although California still canceled its 1925 game against USC , the only year since 1920 in which the teams have not met . Tulsa . Henderson moved to the University of Tulsa in 1925 and served at the Golden Hurricane head coach for the next 11 seasons . There he oversaw the construction of the Skelly Field , which opened in 1930 . Under Henderson , Tulsa captured five conference championships : the Oklahoma Collegiate Conference title in 1925 , the Big Four Conference titles in 1929 , 1930 , and 1932 , and the Missouri Valley Conference title in 1935 . Henderson ' s final record at Tulsa was 70 – 25 – 5 . Later coaching career . Henderson returned to Los Angeles and became the head coach of the professional Los Angeles Bulldogs , which operated as an independent team in 1936 before joining the American Football League in 1937 and capturing the conference title with a perfect 8 – 0 record . The Bulldogs returned to independent play in 1938 when the league folded . In 1939 , Henderson was hired as coach of the National Football League ' s Detroit Lions by team owner Dick Richards , who also owned Los Angeles radio station KMPC . The Lions posted a 6 – 5 record in 1939 , but the team was sold before the 1940 season , and , despite a three - year contract , Henderson was released by new owner Fred Mandel . Again Henderson returned to Los Angeles , this time to take over the football program at Occidental College . As head coach from 1940 to 1942 , he posted a record of 11 – 10 – 2 , but the program was suspended due to World War II and he ended his coaching career . Death . Henderson died on December 16 , 1965 at age 76 in Desert Hot Springs , California of complications from pneumonia . He was survived by his wife Kathryn and their daughter . His cremated remains were returned to Oberlin , Ohio . He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005 .