John H . Outland John Henry Outland ( March 7 , 1871 – March 24 , 1947 ) was an American football player and coach . He played football at Penn College in Oskaloosa , Iowa , the University of Kansas , and the University of Pennsylvania . He was twice named an All - American while playing for the Penn Quakers , in 1897 as a tackle and in 1898 as a halfback . After playing , Outland coached at Franklin & Marshall College in 1900 , the University of Kansas in 1901 , and Washburn University from 1904 to 1905 , compiling a career college football record of 21 – 15 – 2 . He is the namesake of the Outland Trophy , an annual award established in 1946 and given to the best interior lineman in college football . Outland was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 2001 . Early life and playing career . Outland was born in Hesper , Kansas to Thomas Outland and Mahala Outland ( née Kemp ) into a Quaker family who settled in Kansas from Indiana around 1860 during the Bleeding Kansas period as part of a larger Quaker immigration to Kansas in support of the Free state cause . He grew up mostly in Johnson County , Kansas in the towns of Lexington , Kansas and Edgerton , Kansas though . He was a member of the first football team at Penn College in Oskaloosa , Iowa in 1891 . Outland captained the team in 1892 , scoring 32 of the team ' s 36 points . After starring in football and baseball at the University of Kansas in 1895 and 1896 , Outland went to Philadelphia to complete his medical education at the University of Pennsylvania . There he became one of the few men ever to win All - American football honors as both lineman and the backfield player . He was picked by Walter Camp as a tackle as a first - team All - American in 1897 . In 1898 , he was selected again , this time as a halfback . He was captain of the 1898 Pennsylvania team and was voted " Most Popular Man " at the University of Pennsylvania . Outland worked his way through college and spent his last two summers as a companion to rich young men who were alcoholics . To keep them away from alcohol , Outland took them on camping trips in the Wyoming mountains . Coaching career . Franklin and Marshall . In 1900 , Outland coached the football team for the Franklin and Marshall Diplomats in Lancaster , Pennsylvania for one season . His team produced a mixed season of 4 wins and 5 losses . He was the 11th coach of the program that began in 1887 . Kansas . Outland was the eighth head football coach for the University of Kansas Jayhawks located in Lawrence , Kansas and he held that position for the 1901 season . His overall coaching record at Kansas was 3 wins , 5 losses , and 2 ties . This ranks him 32nd at Kansas in terms of total wins and 29th at Kansas in terms of winning percentage . Washburn . Outland also coached at Washburn University in Topeka , Kansas . He was the ninth head football coach for Washburn and he held that position for two seasons , from 1904 until 1905 . His overall coaching record at Washburn was 14 wins , 5 losses , and 0 ties . This ranks him tenth at Washburn in terms of total wins and eighth at Washburn in terms of winning percentage . Outland ' s 1905 season ended with an experimental game with Fairmount University where a new rule forcing the offense to earn a first down in three plays instead of four was in effect . The experiment was considered a failure . Later life . After receiving his medical degree , Outland returned to Kansas in 1900 where he set up his medical practice first in Lawrence , Kansas which lead to his hiring as the head football coach of the University of Kansas . On January 28 , 1902 Outland married Ethel Arnett Grimes in her hometown of Dana , Indiana . He then moved his practice to Topeka , Kansas in 1904 in order to coach the Washburn University football team . In 1906 Outland moved his family to Kansas City , Kansas where he joined the very first staff of the brand new Trinity - Lutheran hospital in Kansas City , Missouri as a general practicing surgeon . Later , in about 1916 , while still on staff with Trinity - Lutheran hospital he moved his family across state lines to Kansas City , Missouri where he lived until his retirement . During his time as a practicing surgeon he extensively used his own plane , often flying with famous Kansas City early aviation pioneer pilot John Kerr " Tex " LaGrone , to visit patients in rural areas and far flung towns , being the first doctor in the Kansas City area to do so . While practicing medicine in the Kansas City region , Dr . Outland served for many years on the athletic board of the University of Kansas alongside other notable KU alumni , Dr . James Naismith and Dr . Forrest " Phog " Allen amongst others . Upon his retirement he moved to Laguna Beach , California . He also served as a major in the United States Army Medical Corps during World War I . Kansas Relays . Outland was the founder of the Kansas Relays , having obtained the inspiration for that event at Penn , when as a student , he saw the Penn Relays just getting under way . For many years he held the post of honorary referee of the Kansas events . Outland Trophy . Outland conceived the idea of the Outland Trophy because of his belief that interior lineman were not given enough recognition in college football . The trophy is the third oldest college football trophy . Selection of the winner is made by the Football Writers Association of America . Death . Outland suffered a stroke in March 1947 and died at his home in Laguna Beach , California two weeks later on March 24 , 1947 . He was survived by his wife , Ethel , daughter Mrs . Mary McDougall of New Orleans , Louisiana , and son John Grimes Outland of Dallas , Texas . Outland was laid to rest in Maple Grove Cemetery in Wichita , Kansas near his parent ' s graves .