Warren Giese Warren Giese ( born c . 1924 ) is an American former South Carolina state legislator and college football coach . He served as the head football coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks for five years at the University of South Carolina . At South Carolina , Giese employed a conservative , run - first game strategy , but he enthusiastically adopted the two - point conversion when it was made legal in 1958 . That year , he also correctly predicted the rise of special teams after the NCAA relaxed its player substitution rules . Early life . Giese was born in Milwaukee , Wisconsin , where he attended Rufus King High School . He attended and played football at the Milwaukee State Teachers College for one year before enlisting in the United States Navy through the V - 12 pilot training program at Central Michigan University . He played football there as well in 1943 , and in the Navy , he also played at stations in Miami and Jacksonville , Florida . After World War II , Giese resumed college at the University of Oklahoma , where he played college football as an end under head coach Jim Tatum in 1946 . That season , he was named a first - team All - Big Six Conference player . Giese graduated from Oklahoma in 1947 . That year , he returned to Central Michigan to play football for his final year of college eligibility . Coaching career . Giese began his coaching career at the Sacred Heart Academy High School in Mount Pleasant , Michigan , where he coached for one season and compiled a 3 – 4 record . From 1949 to 1955 , Giese served as the ends coach at Maryland . During that time , under Jim Tatum , Giese ' s former mentor at Oklahoma , Maryland was awarded the consensus national championship in 1953 and has been retroactively awarded the 1951 national championship by several selectors . In March 1951 , Giese declined the head coaching position at Central Michigan University , for which he had already been approved by the school administration , after Maryland offered him a pay raise . Giese co - authored a book with Tatum entitled " Coaching Football and the Split - T " . In 1955 , University of South Carolina athletic director and head football coach , Rex Enright , compiled a 3 – 6 record and his health was in decline . As a result , he resigned as football coach and hired Giese as his own replacement . At the time , Giese was the youngest head football coach in the nation . He remained as South Carolina head coach for five years and compiled a 28 – 21 – 1 record . As head coach , Giese employed a conservative strategy heavily focused on the ground attack and rarely employed passing . He also relied on long drives to maximize time of possession and said " The other team can ' t score if it doesn ' t have the football . " When Giese took over in 1956 , at least 51 South Carolina players were being paid , in violation of National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) rules . The Gamecocks ' star running back , Alex Hawkins , admitted , " Every school that recruited me had some kind of financial offer . " Giese put an immediate end to the payouts and told the players , " Anybody that doesn ' t like it , submit three teams that you ' d like me to recommend you to . " Hawkins requested a recommendation for Kentucky among others , but says , " It never dawned on me he wouldn ' t call any of them . " In his first season , 1956 , Giese coached the Gamecocks to a 7 – 3 record . In the second game , South Carolina defeated 16th - ranked Duke led by quarterback Sonny Jurgensen , 7 – 0 . It was South Carolina ' s first win over Duke since 1930 and propelled the Gamecocks to a number - 17 ranking . South Carolina set the Atlantic Coast Conference ( ACC ) record for passing defense , allowing just 476 passing yards ( 47 . 6 per game ) , which still stands to date . In 1957 , South Carolina upset the then 20th - ranked Texas team that continued onto the Sugar Bowl , 27 – 21 . The Gamecocks finished with a 5 – 5 record . In 1958 , Giese ' s team recorded the only win over arch - rival Clemson during his tenure , 26 – 6 . Hawkins was named the ACC Player of the Year . That season , the NCAA implemented the two - point conversion rule , and Giese enthusiastically adopted it as part of his game strategy . He calculated that two - point conversions were successful 40 % of the time , while point - after - touchdown kicks succeeded 65 % of the time . In 1959 , South Carolina recorded 13 two - point conversions , setting a school record that still stands to date . That season , the NCAA loosened its rules regarding player substitutions , and Giese correctly predicted the future rise of a " third platoon " , distinct from the offensive and defensive units of two - platoon football . Today the third platoon is known as the special teams . In 1959 , South Carolina was the only team to beat Georgia . The Gamecocks climbed to a number 11 ranking in mid - season and finished with a 6 – 4 record . In 1960 , Giese ' s team finished with a 3 – 6 – 1 record , and he was replaced by former assistant Marvin Bass . After his relief as head coach , Giese remained the South Carolina director of athletics for an additional year . In 1962 , he became a full - time professor and chairman of the Department of Physical Education . Political career . Giese was elected as a Republican to the South Carolina state senate in 1985 . He retired in 2004 as the second oldest serving South Carolina senator . Personal life . One of his sons , W . Barney Giese , who attended the University of South Carolina as an undergraduate and for law school , was the Richland County , South Carolina solicitor . Barney Giese unsuccessfully ran for election to his retired father ' s vacated Senate seat . His other son , Keith Giese , served as the assistant solicitor in Lexington County , South Carolina , and currently works as a criminal defense lawyer in Columbia , South Carolina .