John F. Wiley

John Franklin "Smiling Jack" Wiley (April 18, 1920 – March 25, 2013) was an American football player and coach.

John F. Wiley
Wiley on a 1948 Bowman football card
Biographical details
Born(1920-04-18)April 18, 1920
Wind Ridge, Pennsylvania
DiedMarch 25, 2013(2013-03-25) (aged 92)
Rock Hill, South Carolina
Playing career
1946–1950Pittsburgh Steelers
Position(s)Tackle
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1951–1954Waynesburg
1955–1961Pittsburgh (line)
Head coaching record
Overall22–9–1

Playing career

Wiley played tackle for Waynesburg College and appeared in the first televised game in U.S. history against Fordham at Randalls Island, New York. He took a break from football as he served in the Army during World War II, rising to the rank of captain.

After World War II, Wiley played for the Steelers and coaches Jock Sutherland and John Michelosen from 1946 to 1950, and he was remembered by team chairman Dan Rooney as contributing to one of the team's most successful pre-Super Bowl periods.[1]

Coaching career

Wiley was the head football coach at Waynesburg University in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania for four seasons, from 1951 to 1954, compiling a record of 22–9–1.[2]

Wiley left Waynesburg to become an assistant at Pitt, where he is credited with recruiting Mike Ditka and Marty Schottenheimer. He left coaching in 1961 to become a salesman and later regional manager for the L.G. Balfour Jewelry & Taylor Publishing Company.[1]

gollark: DVDs are digital and thus exactly copyable however.
gollark: That is a... somewhat bizarre conclusion to draw from that.
gollark: Universities do seem to mention "transferable skills" a lot, but I don't know how significant those actually are.
gollark: Probably, yes. I have a friend who likes programming language theory a lot but doesn't really expect to be able to get work in that (eventually).
gollark: The theoretical stuff isn't necessarily worse depending on what you want to do.

References
  1. DiPaola, Jerry. "Ex-Waynesburg coach, Pitt assistant Wiley dies". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  2. "Waynesberg College Football Media Guide". Sidearm DMG. p. 79. Archived from the original on April 3, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.