Homer Woodson Hargiss Homer Woodson " Bill " Hargiss ( September 1 , 1887 – October 15 , 1978 ) was an American football and basketball player , and track and field athlete , and coach in Kansas and Oregon . He was an early innovator in football and was known to be one of the first coaches to use the forward pass and the huddle . Playing career . Hargiss participated in sports at Kansas Normal College , now Emporia State University . He was a standout at the college in football , baseball , basketball , gymnastics , boxing , and track & field . Emporia State honored him in 1982 by inducting him into their " Athletic Hall of Honor " — the first year the honor was available , as a distinguished alumni in 1970 , and for the all - Centennial Team in 1997 . Hargiss would later return to the college as a coach . Coaching career . College of Emporia . Hargiss ' first coaching job came as the head coach of the College of Emporia ( C of E ) in Emporia , Kansas . The school had a well - developed rivalry with Kansas State Normal School , where Hargiss played quarterback the previous year , and would later coach . At C of E , Hargiss developed plays using talented quarterback Arthur Schabinger that most had never seen before , namely the forward pass and the option pass . Forward pass . In the team ' s 1910 game at Washburn , Arthur Schabinger has been credited by some to have thrown the first legal forward pass in college football history . While this claim is widely disputed by other colleges ( there are multiple claims dating back to 1906 ) , College of Emporia most certainly was one of the first innovators of the play particularly to throw " overhand " forward passes instead of the more common " underhand " passes . The school was using the forward pass as a regular play three years before Knute Rockne and Notre Dame . For the second to last game in 1910 , Schabringer scored seven touchdowns in a 107 – 0 win over Pittsburg Normal . The forward pass played a major role in the game as well . Option pass . Hargiss also ran the option pass play ( possibly the first of all time ) at the College of Emporia in 1910 . The " option pass " play was a sweep to the end with halfbacks that would either pass or run depending on how the defensive play would develop . Oregon State University . Hargiss was the head football , basketball , and track coach at Oregon State University from 1918 to 1919 . During his tenure there , he compiled a 6 – 8 – 1 record . From 1918 – 1920 he also coached the Oregon State Beavers basketball team . Emporia State University . Hargiss was the ninth and twelfth head football coach for Emporia State University ( called Kansas Normal School at the time ) in Emporia , Kansas and he held that position for twelve seasons , from 1914 until 1917 and then returning from 1920 until 1927 . His overall coaching record at ESU was 61 – 23 – 11 . This ranks him third at ESU in terms of total wins and first at ESU in terms of winning percentage . In the 1920 game against Washburn University under coach Dwight Ream , Emporia State fullback Jack Reeves sustained a neck injury that resulted in his death . The 1922 season also saw the loss of player Don Davis ( it is not known if Davis died from play or natural causes ) . While at Kansas Normal , Hargiss coached the 1926 team to an undefeated season and outscored their opponents 144 to 3 . The closest game of the season was a 6 – 0 battle against Hargiss ' s former team , the College of Emporia . University of Kansas . From 1928 to 1932 , Hargiss served as the head football coach at University of Kansas , compiling a record of 18 – 16 – 2 . He was fired as football coach on October 10 , 1932 , two days after the Jawhawks lost at home to Oklahoma , 21 – 6 . Hargiss was succeeded by assistant coach Adrian Lindsey . Football developments . Use of the huddle . Oregon State was one of the very first schools nationally to use the huddle formation in a game . It happened against the University of Washington in Seattle in 1918 . Hargiss instructed the starters that once they returned to the field , they were to stand 10 yards behind the ball before the beginning of each play and whisper to one another what they were going to do next . An eyewitness to the game was veteran Seattle sports columnist Royal Brougham , whose stories of the contest give testimony today to OSU ' s early use of this pioneering new formation . Forward pass . While coaching at the College of Emporia , Hargiss would regularly use the forward pass and records show that it was used as early as 1910 , three years before Knute Rockne began to regularly call the play . Personal life . Hargiss graduated from Kansas Normal School in Emporia , Kansas . His brother , Floyd Daniel Hargiss was a football coach at Ottawa University in Ottawa , Kansas .