John Pont | |
Birth Date: | 13 November 1927 |
Birth Place: | Canton, Ohio, U.S. |
Death Place: | Oxford, Ohio, U.S. |
Player Years1: | 1949–1951 |
Player Team1: | Miami (OH) |
Player Years2: | 1952 |
Player Team2: | Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers |
Player Positions: | Halfback |
Coach Years1: | 1953–1955 |
Coach Team1: | Miami (OH) (assistant) |
Coach Years2: | 1956–1962 |
Coach Team2: | Miami (OH) |
Coach Years3: | 1963–1964 |
Coach Team3: | Yale |
Coach Years4: | 1965–1972 |
Coach Team4: | Indiana |
Coach Years5: | 1973–1977 |
Coach Team5: | Northwestern |
Coach Years6: | 1984–1989 |
Coach Team6: | Hamilton HS (OH) |
Coach Years7: | 1990–1992 |
Coach Team7: | Mount St. Joseph |
Coach Years8: | 1990–2004 |
Coach Team8: | ROCBULL (X-League) |
Admin Years1: | 1975–1980 |
Admin Team1: | Northwestern |
Overall Record: | 107–141–4 (college) |
Bowl Record: | 0–2 |
Championships: | 2 MAC (1957–1958) 1 Big Ten (1967) |
Awards: | Imperial Oil Trophy (1952) AFCA Coach of the Year (1967) Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (1967) Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (1967) Sporting News College Football COY (1967) Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award (1967) Miami RedHawks No. 42 retired |
John Pont (November 13, 1927 – July 1, 2008) was an American football player and coach. He served as head football coach at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, from 1956 to 1962, Yale University from 1963 to 1964, Indiana University Bloomington from 1965 to 1972, Northwestern University from 1973 to 1977, and Mount St. Joseph University in Delhi, Ohio, from 1990 to 1992, compiling a career college football head coaching record of 107–141–4.
Pont was born on November 13, 1927, in Canton, Ohio, to Bautista and Suzannah Pont.[1] He graduated from Timken High School in Canton. As an undergraduate at Miami University, Pont was an outstanding halfback, playing for coaches Woody Hayes and Ara Parseghian, and was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. After a serving a tour as a Navy submariner, Pont played professional football in Canada. He and several of his "Cradle of Coaches" compatriots are the subject of the book Fields of Honor, written by Pont's niece, Sally Pont.
After playing college football at Miami University, Pont went to Canada and played with Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers of the Ontario Rugby Football Union, where he won the Imperial Oil Trophy as league MVP in 1952.[2]
He was the only Indiana University coach to take a team to the Rose Bowl. Later in his career, Pont was recruited to start a football program at Cincinnati's College of Mount St. Joseph. He later served as coach and consultant in creating a semi-professional football league in Japan.[3] He was honored as NCAA Division I-A coach of the year in 1967, the year his Hoosiers appeared in the Rose Bowl. He was a member of the Cradle of Coaches and the Miami and Indiana Athletic Halls of Fame as well as Mid-American Conference Hall of Fame and the Indiana Football Hall of Fame.
Despite rumors that he would stay at Indiana, Pont signed a five-year contract to succeed Alex Agase at Northwestern University on December 23, 1972.[4] He announced on November 14, 1977, that he would remain as athletic director while relinquishing his head coaching duties effective at the end of the season.[5] Rick Venturi succeeded him seventeen days later on December 1.[6] Both Pont and Venturi were dismissed on November 18, 1980, after the Wildcats went 1 - 31 - 1 within a three-year span culminating with a 0 - 11 campaign and a twenty-game losing streak.[7] Additionally, all but one of the black players on the football team had protested against the unequal treatment of African-American student athletes within the program.[8]
Pont died at his home in Oxford, Ohio, on July 1, 2008.