John McLean ( athlete ) John Frederick McLean ( January 10 , 1878 – June 4 , 1955 ) was an All - American college football player , track and field athlete , and coach . He won a silver medal in the 110 metre hurdles at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris with a time of 15 . 5 seconds . He was also selected as an All - American football player in 1899 while playing for the University of Michigan . He went on to coach the Knox College and University of Missouri football teams in the 1900s . He was dismissed from his coaching position at Missouri in January 1906 after being accused of paying money to a player . Athlete at Michigan . McLean ' s hometown was Menominee , Michigan , a lumber town located in Michigan ' s Upper Peninsula . He enrolled in the University of Michigan where he became a star athlete in American football , track and field , and baseball . He played as a substitute on Michigan ' s 1897 football team and played left halfback for the 1898 and 1899 teams . McLean was also a member of Michigan ' s track and baseball teams . In May 1899 , McLean set the University of Michigan school record in the 120 - yard hurdles with a time of 16 - 1 / 5 seconds . On the same day , he also broke a western intercollegiate record in the running broad jump by clearing 23 feet . In 1898 , McLean played on Michigan ' s first Western Conference ( as the Big Ten Conference was then known ) championship football team . The Wolverines won the championship with a 12 – 11 victory over Chicago — a game that inspired Louis Elbel to write the University of Michigan ' s fight song , " The Victors . " McLean contributed to the win over Chicago with a kick return to the 50 - yard line and a second kick return for 35 yards . In November 1899 , McLean led the Wolverines in a game against eastern football power , the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia . The Wolverines lost the game 11 – 10 , but McLean ' s play at left halfback drew praise in newspaper accounts carried across the country . McLean made several long runs , principally on end run s . Michigan scored its first touchdown " wholly on a series of runs by McLean , around Pennsylvania ' s left end . " The score came on a 22 - yard end run that " set the Michigan rooters fairly wild . " " The New York Times " reported that even the Penn fans showed their appreciation for McLean - - " his brilliant sprinting around Pennsylvania ' s ends often brought applause from the followers of the Quakers . " McLean ' s final game for Michigan was a November 1899 match against the University of Wisconsin played in front of 17 , 000 fans in Chicago . Newspaper accounts reported that Michigan ' s " crack halfback " McLean " made one of his end runs " with ten minutes to play — a forty - yard run for a touchdown . Another newspaper described McLean ' s final touchdown as follows : " the premier halfback , receiving the ball on the forty - yard line , bounded past the Badgers ' left end , and at a high speed struck out for the goal line . " After the season ended , McLean received acknowledgement with his selection as a first - team All - American , including All - American selections by " The Philadelphia Inquirer " and " The Fort Wayne News . " Olympic athlete . McLean competed for the United States in track and field events at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris . He won the silver medal in the 110 metre hurdles with a time of 15 . 5 seconds . Alvin Kraenzlein took gold with a time of 15 . 4 seconds . McLean also took sixth place in the long jump with a distance of 6 . 655 metres , not making it into the top five who qualified for the final , as well as the triple jump , in which he did not place in the top six , and the standing triple jump , in which he did not make the top four . Coaching career . Knox College . In 1901 , McLean became the head football coach at Knox College , a private liberal arts college located in Galesburg , Illinois . He compiled a 15 – 5 – 3 record as football coach at Knox from 1901 to 1903 . McLean turned Knox into an elite football program in 1902 , leading to speculation that he was recruiting ringers . McLean denied the allegation , insisting that every man on the team was " a bona fide student of the college . " McLean won fame " by coaching little Knox college into a high place in western football . " University of Missouri . In 1903 , McLean was hired as the head football coach at the University of Missouri . He coached the Missouri Tigers for three years ( 1903 – 1905 ) and compiled an overall record of 9 – 17 – 1 . In 1906 , McLean became involved in a scandal that resulted in his dismissal as Missouri ' s head coach . Evidence was presented that Akerson , the star fullback on Missouri ' s 1904 team , was a professional who had been " hired " to serve on the team . Akerson had previously played at Knox and went on to become " one of the best individual players who was ever a member of a Tiger team . " McLean paid Akerson $ 250 out of his own pocket , and several alumni from Kansas City were to have shared the expense . However , the others " welched , " and when McLean wrote to them requesting that they pay their share , they turned over the correspondence to the university ' s athletic director . The news created " a real sensation " that resulted in McLean ' s being " dismissed in disgrace . " A Nebraska newspaper called it " the biggest scandal in the history of Missouri athletics , " and some even called for the abolition of football at the school .