Tom Davies ( American football ) Thomas J . Davies ( October 14 , 1896 – February 29 , 1972 ) was an American football player and coach . He played as a halfback at the University of Pittsburgh and was a consensus All - American in 1918 and 1920 . After retiring as a player , Davies worked as a football coach for the next 26 years , including stints at the University of Pennsylvania , Geneva College , Allegheny College , the University of Rochester , the Carnegie Institute of Technology , the University of Scranton , and Western Reserve University . He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1970 . Playing career . Davies was a native of Gas City , Indiana . He moved to Washington , Pennsylvania when he was 11 years old . Davies played high school football at Aliquippa High School in Aliquippa , Pennsylvania , and at Kiski Preparatory School in Saltsburg , Pennsylvania . Davies was working in a Washington factory when he got the chance to play football at Kiski . A friend refused to accept a football scholarship there unless Davies went along . Davies enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh where he played four seasons ( 1918 – 1921 ) of football under coach Glenn Scobey " Pop " Warner . Davies played in 31 games for the Pittsburgh Panthers and averaged 150 yards per game over his four - year career . He was selected as a first - team All - American in his freshman season of 1918 and again as a junior in 1920 . As a freshman in 1918 , Davies weighed only 142 pounds . In his first carry for Pitt , he ran for 13 yards against Washington & Jefferson — then a national power . Three plays later , he ran for 38 yards , " setting the pace for a stellar playing career . " Davies helped Pitt to an undefeated season and a national championship in 1918 , as he led the team in rushing , passing and receiving . He led Pitt in all - purpose yards all four years that he played . In a 1918 game against Georgia Tech , the freshman Davies accounted for five touchdowns — running 50 yards for a touchdown , returning two punts for touchdowns ( a 60 - yard and a 50 - yard return ) , and passing for two more touchdowns . After watching Davies run back a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown in 1918 , one writer noted : " When Brother Tom Davies caught the kickoff on the ten - yard line at Franklin Field in Philadelphia one Saturday in November , we saw the prettiest piece of open field work not off at an angle , Tommie ran the length since the days of Jim Thorpe . On a bee line of the gridiron , and in so doing he personally took care of seven men ! Then just for fun he added two more . The papers said , ‘ Tom Davies Beats Penn . ’ It has been the same against Syracuse , Lafayette and Georgia Tech . And now Pitt is counting on another All - American . " As a junior in 1920 , Davies led Pitt to another big win over the University of Pennsylvania . In what some called Davies ’ finest game , he threw a touchdown pass , ran 80 yards for a touchdown , returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and returned an interception 60 yards for a touchdown . Also in 1920 , he led Pitt to a 35 – 0 win over Syracuse , as he rushed for 255 yards and scored 16 points in only three quarters of play . In December 1920 , Davies was elected by his teammates to be captain of Pitt ' s 1921 football team . Davies was selected as team captain at a team banquet at which the entire team gave Davies “ a thunderous cheer . ” The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that Davies was so affected by the demonstration that he stammered only a few words of appreciation and left the hall saying , “ I ’ m going to phone my mother and tell her all about it . ” Davies continues to rank among Pitt ' s all - time leaders in scoring with 181 points and all - purpose yards with 3 , 931 yards . He was survived by his wife and two daughters . Coaching career . After graduating from Pitt , Davies began a long career as a college football coach . His first coaching position was as an assistant to the legendary John Heisman at the University of Pennsylvania in 1922 . At the time of his hiring at Penn , " The New York Times " noted : " Tom Davies , former Pitt captain and all - American halfback , makes his debut as a Penn coach . The versatile Davies , who raised havoc with a number of Penn elevens in recent years , will instruct in forward passing , punting and straight arming , and will also help Tom McNamara with the scrubs . " Davies received his first head coaching job in 1923 when he was hired as the head football coach for the Geneva College Golden Tornadoes located in Beaver Falls , Pennsylvania . He spent only one season at Geneva compiling a record of 6 – 2 – 1 . As of completion of the 2007 season , this ranks him 18th at Geneva in total wins and fourth at Geneva in winning percentage ( . 722 ) . In 1924 , he was hired by Allegheny College where he remained for two seasons . In 1926 , Davies was hired as the head football coach at the University of Rochester , where he spent nine years , coaching until 1934 . After leaving Rochester , he spent one season as a coach at Carnegie Tech and another at Kiski Prep School . In 1937 , Davies took over as head football coach at the St . Thomas College . In his first season , he led the Tomcats to a 6 – 1 – 1 record . Prior to the start of the 1938 season , St . Thomas College changed its name to the University of Scranton . Davies ' s 1938 team finished with a record of 7 – 2 . The team improved in 1939 and completed an undefeated 7 – 0 – 2 season . Davies resigned as Scranton ' s coach in March 1940 with a three - year record of 20 – 3 – 3 . After leaving Scranton , Davies went into the insurance business in the Cleveland area . Although Davies insisted at the time of his resignation at Scranton that he was done with coaching , he was hired in March 1941 to take over as the head football coach for the Western Reserve University Red Cats . Davies served seven years as head coach at Western Reserve but was discharged in October 1947 by the University Board of Athletics . The dismissal came 24 hours after members of the team demanded that they finish the year under another coach . Later years . After permanently retiring from football in 1947 , Davies returned to the insurance business in the Pittsburgh area . Davies was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1966 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1970 . He died of a heart attack in February 1972 at age 75 . He died at his home in Pittsburgh ' s Highland Park district .