Norm Daniels ( American football ) Norm Daniels ( March 25 , 1907 – May 11 , 2009 ) was an American athlete and coach . He played basketball , football and baseball for the University of Michigan from 1928 to 1932 . He served for 39 years as a professor of physical education and coach at Wesleyan University from 1934 to 1973 , including 33 years as the school ' s head baseball coach , 19 years as the head football coach , nine years as the head wrestling coach , three years as the head basketball coach , and two years as the head squash coach . He led the Wesleyan football team to four consecutive undefeated seasons from 1945 to 1948 . Michigan . Daniels was born in Detroit , Michigan in 1907 . He attended the University of Michigan where he received nine varsity letter s in football , basketball and baseball . He won All - Big Ten and All - America honors in basketball and was the leading scorer for the 1930 - 1931 and 1931 - 32 Michigan basketball teams with 152 and 148 points , respectively . He also held the second base position for the baseball team , and played at the right end and halfback positions for the football teams from 1929 to 1931 . After graduating from Michigan in 1932 , Daniels became a teacher and coach at a secondary school in Hillsdale , Michigan . Wesleyan . In 1934 , one of Daniels ' coaches from the University of Michigan , Jack Blott , was hired as the head football coach at Wesleyan University . Daniels joined Blott at Wesleyan in 1934 as a physical education instructor and as an assistant football coach responsible for the ends and backs . Daniels remained at Wesleyan for 39 years , holding positions as the head coach of the football , basketball , baseball , wrestling , and squash teams . He was the school ' s head baseball coach for 33 years ( 1941 to 1973 ) , the head football coach for 19 years ( 1945 to 1963 ) , the head wrestling coach for nine years , the head basketball coach for three years ( 1944 to 1947 ) , and the head squash coach for two years ( 1948 to 1950 ) . He was named a full professor at Wesleyan in 1948 . In his 19 years as the head football coach , Daniels compiled a record of 76 – 61 – 10 . He led the football team to a 25 - game win streak , including four consecutive undefeated seasons from 1945 to 1948 . After the 1948 season , Associated Press sports writer Lou Black wrote : " Want to know who really is the coach of the year ? He ' s mild mannered Norm Daniels , the wizard of Wesleyan . " In 1959 , Daniels traveled with the baseball team on preseason trip to the South . When Daniels was told that a black player , Lenny Moore , could not stay at a hotel in Georgia , Daniels took the team from the hotel . In Florida , an opposing school refused to play Wesleyan unless Moore was removed from the lineup ; Daniels pulled his team from the field . Later years and honors . Daniels retired after the baseball season in 1973 . He was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1974 . Daniels remained active in his later years , serving on the Middletown City Council in the late 1960s and early 1970s . He also drove a van for Kuhn Employment Opportunities , an organization that assists people with disabilities to secure employment . On April 5 , 2007 , Daniels celebrated his 100th birthday with a party in the lobby of Wesleyan ' s Freeman Athletic Center . In 2008 , Daniels became one of the inaugural inductees into the Wesleyan University Athletics Hall of Fame . In May 2009 , Daniels died at age 102 at the Kimberly Hall nursing home in Windsor , Connecticut . He was survived by a daughter , Diana Mahoney , a son , David , 10 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren . A memorial service was held for Daniels at the South Congregational Church in Middletown , Connecticut , followed by a reception in the Coach Norm Daniels Lobby in the Freeman Athletic Center at Wesleyan .