| Jesse Harper | |
| Birth Date: | 10 December 1883 |
| Birth Place: | Paw Paw, Illinois, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Sitka, Kansas, U.S. |
| Player Sport1: | Football |
| Player Years2: | 1905 |
| Player Team2: | Chicago |
| Player Sport3: | Baseball |
| Player Years4: | 1903–1906 |
| Player Team4: | Chicago |
| Coach Sport1: | Football |
| Coach Years2: | 1906–1907 |
| Coach Team2: | Alma |
| Coach Years3: | 1909–1912 |
| Coach Team3: | Wabash |
| Coach Years4: | 1913–1917 |
| Coach Team4: | Notre Dame |
| Coach Sport5: | Basketball |
| Coach Years6: | 1910–1913 |
| Coach Team6: | Wabash |
| Coach Years7: | 1913–1918 |
| Coach Team7: | Notre Dame |
| Coach Sport8: | Baseball |
| Coach Years9: | 1910–1913 |
| Coach Team9: | Wabash |
| Coach Years10: | 1914–1918 |
| Coach Team10: | Notre Dame |
| Admin Years1: | 1913–1917 |
| Admin Team1: | Notre Dame |
| Admin Years2: | 1931–1933 |
| Admin Team2: | Notre Dame |
| Overall Record: | 57–17–7 (football) 67–29 (basketball) 88–53–1 (baseball) |
| Championships: | |
| Cfbhof Year: | 1971 |
| Cfbhof Id: | 1261 |
Jesse Clair Harper (December 10, 1883 – July 31, 1961) was an American football and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Alma College (1906–1907), Wabash College (1909–1912), and the University of Notre Dame (1913–1917), compiling a career college football record of 57–17–7. Harper was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1971.
Harper was the head football coach at Alma College in Alma, Michigan. He held that position for the 1906 and 1907 seasons. His coaching record at Alma was 8–3–4.[1]
Harper was the 18th head football coach at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and he held that position for four seasons, from 1909 until 1912. His coaching record at Wabash was 15–9–2.[2]
Harper is most known for his coaching at the University of Notre Dame.[3] His 1913 football squad posted a 35–13 win over Army, one that is regarded by most football historians as the game that put Notre Dame on the football map.
Harper stepped down as head football coach after the 1917 season and returned to ranching in his home state of Kansas. His ranch was not far from where Knute Rockne was killed in a 1931 plane crash.[4] Harper accompanied Rockne's body on the train from Kansas back to South Bend, Indiana, for the funeral and burial. The University of Notre Dame immediately hired Harper to fill Rockne's role as athletic director,[5] a position in which he remained until 1934, when Elmer Layden became head football coach and athletic director.
Harper was married and had two sons and one daughter.
In 1963, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum for his contributions to the cattle industry.[6]