COLUMBUS, Ohio — When Paul Brown joined Ohio State University as the head football coach in 1941, there were doubters.
What You Need To Know
- Ohio State University’s football team won its first national championship in 1942
- That championship team was led by head coach Paul Brown who was in his second year at OSU
- Brown introduced many innovations including modern face masks, playbooks and film review
He hadn’t made the team as an undergraduate, which prompted a transfer to Miami University where he eventually played starting quarterback, and while his success coaching Massillon Washington High School’s Tigers had people talking, many wondered if it would translate to the collegiate level.
The answer was a quick yes, with an impressive second season that had the Buckeyes losing only one game, against Wisconsin, and clinching the university’s first national title in 1942.
“1942 is in some ways the beginning of modern Ohio State football,” said Columbus Dispatch sports reporter Bill Rabinowitz. “I don’t know that anyone was more influential in the growth of football than Paul Brown. He integrated teams, for one thing.”
Brown was born in 1908 in Norwalk, Ohio. He left an indelible mark on football in the Buckeye State at all levels, and was considered disciplined and serious by players and scholars alike.
He introduced the use of playbooks, film review, and modern face masks and also is credited with being the first to use hand signals to call plays.
He left Ohio State in 1944 after three seasons to coach for the Great Lakes Naval Academy in Chicago before becoming the inaugural coach of the Cleveland Browns and later founding the Cincinnati Bengals.
His efforts at inclusion carried through to the professional leagues, fielding integrated teams in both cities.
“Paul Brown was a force,” said Columbus Dispatch Sports Columnist, Rob Oller. “Stoic. Not a real extroverted person… it was a new way of doing things.”