University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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THE JAYHAWKER Chicago, and VtV t Virginia, among other , in atlilition to ty- ing T u 1 a n and Southern Methodist Nebraska ' scarlet horde had been the bane of the Tigers ' existence before Henry went to Columbia, but he ended that in a hurry. In his first year at M.U. the Tiger tied the Huskers and three of the next four seasons found them winning from the Lincoln lads. The Cornhuskers thumped the Notre Dame team that boasted the famous Four Horsemen and they downed Il- linois when Red Grange was on the loose, but they rould not beat Henry ' s Missouri teams. After winning the conference title in 1927. the Tigers tied for second with Oklahoma in 1928 and took undisputed runnerup honors in 1929. During the fol- lowing two seasons Henry was struck down witli illness and could be with his teams only a part of the time. Missouri lost as many games during those two years as it had in the previous seven campaigns under Henry. In 1931 the Tigers dropped eight out of ten and that brought an end to the nine-year Gwinn Henry regime at Missouri. For two years Henry was out of the game regaining his health, but in the fall of 1933 he donned the moleskins aguin to take over the head coaching duties for the St. Louis Gunners, an independent professional outfit. The Gunners were given no consideration at all in pre- season dope, but Henry put his football magic to work and the Gunners astounded everyone by roaring through a 16 - game schedule with only two defeats. They topped off the season by tying the Chicago Bears, na- tional professional champions. After a year at St. Louis Henry returned to the South- west, the great open spaces where he spent his youth. He went to the University of New Mexico as director of athletics and head football coach. In his three years there before c oming to Kansas, Henry met with much success, winning the Bor- der conference championship his first season at Albuquerque. Not only can Henry teach other men to excell in athletics, he was a champion himself. During his undergraduate days at Howard Payne Gwinn was an all-star end on the football team and a crack baseball player, but on the track he fairly scintil- lated. He ran the 100-yard dash in 9.6 seconds, the 220 in 21.2, threw the discus 145 feet, and put the shot 42 feet, all of these performances being Texas rec- ords. In 1910 and 1911 Henry ran for the Irish-American athletic club of New York, where he set a world record for the 125-yard dash at 12.2 seconds and equalled the world records of 10.8 for the 110-yard dash and 7.4 for 75 yards indoors. He (Continued on Page 75) (Photo by Charles Grabske, Jr.)

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OCTOBER 1939 21 so overwhelmingly in favor of Mr. Henry that both obstacles were soon removed. The new Jayhawker mentor fell heir to the remnants of a club that finished in the cellar of the Big Six conference last year. Only a few sophomores possessing varsity potentialities are lending a hand in the process of reconstruction. The toughest opponents in the league have improved consid- erably over last season. Yet Henry has set himself to the task with a right good will and is fashioning a football machine that is catching the fancy of the fans. It is a team capable of reeling off long and thrilling touchdown maneuvers from any spot on the field. All Henry lacked in winning his first contest as a Kansas coach was a pass that slipped through the fingers of a lone (Photo by Art Wall) Football Gray-Matter: Reading from left to right are Vic Hurt, Harry Lansing, and Gwinn Henry, the guiding hands of this year ' s Jayhawker grid machine. And it ' s certainly true that when Gwinn speaks the staff listens. lill ' E HIM TIME by JAY SIMON figure standing in the end zone. Then came his first home game and his first Big Six start at K.U. His Crimson and Blue club did itself proud in smash, ing over two quick touchdowns against Iowa State and otherwise outplaying the Cyclones throughout the game. But be- fore saying more about Henry ' s doings on Mt. Oread, let us gaze back over the past and consider some of the things that have led sports writers and observers to tag him as one of the craftiest mentors in the business. Gwinn started his coaching career in 1911 at Oklahoma Baptist University and after staying there two years returned to his alma mater, Howard Payne college, to coach during 1913-14-15. The school year of 1916-17 found Henry at the Georgia Military school as track coach, then he returned to Howard Payne to finish work on his degree. This set the stage for his first step up the ladder of coaching greatness. College of Emporia brought him to this sector in 1918 and from the very start he began producing sensational teams. In five years at Emporia, his Presbyterian elevens drop- ped only three games. C. of E., during the Henry administra- tion, was one of the most feared of all the smaller colleges. This marvelous record gave Gwinn Henry his chance in the big time coaching racket when Missouri lured him to Columbia in 1923 to begin tutoring its sons of the gridiron. After a medi- ocre season in which he built foundations for great teams, Henry got his Tigers rolling in high gear. In 1924 and the next three years Missouri stacked up 25 victories, lost only 6 games, and tied 3. The Bengals won the Big Six championship three times out of four in this span and outside the loop chalked up triumphs over Northwestern,

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To the Youngsters - At first things are pretty much in a whirl for the youngster that ' s new. But after a while, with a little help from here and there, he finds his way around and gets in the K.U. whirl himself. . . . Freshmen: May you enjoy these next 20 pages, while memories are still fresh. We dedicate them to you. But we ' re thinking, too, of the seniors who may fondly recall some freshman days of their own.