Ray Eliot
{{Short description|American athlete, coach, and administrator (1905–1980)}}
{{For|those of a similar name|Ray Elliot (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox college coach
| name = Ray Eliot
| image = Ray Eliot kneeling 1942.jpg
| image_upright = 0.9
| caption = Eliot, circa 1942
| alt =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1905|6|3}}
| birth_place = Brighton, Massachusetts, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1980|2|24|1905|6|3}}
| death_place = Urbana, Illinois, U.S.
| alma_mater =
| player_years1 = 1930–1931
| player_team1 = Illinois
| player_positions = Guard
| coach_sport1 = Football
| coach_years2 = 1932–1933
| coach_team2 = Illinois College (assistant)
| coach_years3 = 1934–1936
| coach_team3 = Illinois College
| coach_years4 = 1937–1941
| coach_team4 = Illinois (line)
| coach_years5 = 1942–1959
| coach_team5 = Illinois
| coach_sport6 = Baseball
| coach_years7 = 1933–1937
| coach_team7 = Illinois College
| coach_sport8 = Ice Hockey
| coach_years9 = 1937–1939
| coach_team9 = Illinois
| admin_years1 = 1979
| admin_team1 = Illinois (interim AD)
| overall_record = 98–80–12 ({{winpct|98|80|12}}) (football)
3–11–0 ({{winpct|3|11|0}}) (ice hockey)
| bowl_record = 2–0
| tournament_record =
| championships = 1 national (1951)
3 Big Ten (1946, 1951, 1953)
| awards = Amos Alonzo Stagg Award (1961)
| coaching_records =
}}
Raymond Eliot "Butch" Nusspickel (June 13, 1905 – February 24, 1980) was an American football and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator.
Early life
Eliot lettered as a guard for Illinois three times: twice for football (1930, 1931) and once for baseball (1930).
Coaching career
He served as the head football coach at Illinois College from 1934 to 1936 and at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign from 1942 to 1959, compiling a career college football record of 98–80–12. Eliot was also the head baseball coach at Illinois College from 1933 to 1937. His Illinois Fighting Illini football teams won three Big Ten Conference championships (1946, 1951, and 1953) and two Rose Bowls (1947 and 1952).
Notable players during Eliot's tenure included Bobby Mitchell and Ray Nitschke. Eliot stepped down in 1959 and was succeeded by Pete Elliott. [https://chambanasun.com/stories/665306234-fighting-illini-s-memorable-era-at-memorial-stadium-during-50s-60s "Fighting Illini’s memorable era at Memorial Stadium during '50s-'60s,"] Chambana Sun, May 21, 2024. Eliot, who spent almost his entire career at the University of Illinois—he was a student athlete, an assistant football coach, head football coach, associate athletic director, and finally the interim athletic director for the university—was nicknamed "Mr. Illini." He attended the University of Illinois, played as a guard on the football team in 1930 and 1931, and was a member of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.
Eliot was also the first head coach of the Illini hockey team in 1937.
Personal life
He died of an apparent heart attack on February 24, 1980, in Urbana, Illinois.{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1980/02/26/112054961.pdf|title=Ray Eliot, 74, Dead; Coached At Illinois; Career Spanned 18 Years, During Which Football Teams Won Twice in Rose Bowl An Eloquent Speaker|date=February 25, 1980|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=August 20, 2011|agency=Associated Press}}
Legacy
Eliot's 1951 Illinois squad is currently the last Illini team to finish the season with no losses. Eliot is remembered by the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association through its Ray Eliot Award.[https://www.sj-r.com/story/sports/high-school/2019/04/01/bates-receives-eliot-award/5568025007/ "Bates receives Eliot Award,"] [Springfield, IL] State Journal-Register, April 1, 2019. Eliot was inducted into the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018.[https://fightingillini.com/honors/hall-of-fame/ray-eliot/23 "Ray Eliot,"] University of Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame, fightingillini.com
Head coaching record
=Football=
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = both }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = Illinois College Blueboys
| conf = Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
| startyear = 1934
| endyear = 1936
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1934
| name = Illinois College
| overall = 6–1
| conference = 5–1
| confstanding = T–3rd
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1935
| name = Illinois College
| overall = 5–3
| conference = 5–1
| confstanding = T–3rd
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1936
| name = Illinois College
| overall = 4–3–1
| conference = 2–2–1
| confstanding = T–10th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Illinois College
| overall = 15–7–1
| confrecord = 12–4–1
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = Illinois Fighting Illini
| conf = Big Ten Conference
| startyear = 1942
| endyear = 1959
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1942
| name = Illinois
| overall = 6–4
| conference = 3–2
| confstanding = T–3rd
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1943
| name = Illinois
| overall = 3–7
| conference = 2–4
| confstanding = 6th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1944
| name = Illinois
| overall = 5–4–1
| conference = 3–3
| confstanding = 6th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 = 15
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1945
| name = Illinois
| overall = 2–6–1
| conference = 1–4–1
| confstanding = 7th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = conference
| year = 1946
| name = Illinois
| overall = 8–2
| conference = 6–1
| confstanding = 1st
| bowlname = Rose
| bowloutcome = W
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 = 5
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1947
| name = Illinois
| overall = 5–3–1
| conference = 3–3
| confstanding = T–3rd
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1948
| name = Illinois
| overall = 3–6
| conference = 2–5
| confstanding = 8th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1949
| name = Illinois
| overall = 3–4–2
| conference = 3–3–1
| confstanding = 5th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1950
| name = Illinois
| overall = 7–2
| conference = 4–2
| confstanding = 4th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = 11
| ranking2 = 13
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = national
| year = 1951
| name = Illinois
| overall = 9–0–1
| conference = 5–0–1
| confstanding = 1st
| bowlname = Rose
| bowloutcome = W
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = 3
| ranking2 = 4
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1952
| name = Illinois
| overall = 4–5
| conference = 2–5
| confstanding = T–6th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = conference
| year = 1953
| name = Illinois
| overall = 7–1–1
| conference = 5–1
| confstanding = T–1st
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = 7
| ranking2 = 7
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1954
| name = Illinois
| overall = 1–8
| conference = 0–6
| confstanding = 10th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1955
| name = Illinois
| overall = 5–3–1
| conference = 3–3–1
| confstanding = 5th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1956
| name = Illinois
| overall = 2–5–2
| conference = 1–4–2
| confstanding = 8th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1957
| name = Illinois
| overall = 4–5
| conference = 3–4
| confstanding = 7th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1958
| name = Illinois
| overall = 4–5
| conference = 4–3
| confstanding = 6th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking =
| ranking2 =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1959
| name = Illinois
| overall = 5–3–1
| conference = 4–2–1
| confstanding = T–3rd
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = 12
| ranking2 = 13
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Illinois
| overall = 83–73–11
| confrecord = 54–55–7
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
| overall = 98–80–12
| bowls = no
| poll = two
| polltype =
}}
=Ice hockey=
{{CBB Yearly Record Start
|type=coach
|conference=
|postseason=
|poll=no
}}
{{CIH yearly record subhead
|name = Illinois Fighting Illini men's ice hockey
|color = color:white; background:#13294B; {{box-shadow border|a|#E84A27|2px}}
|startyear = 1937
|conflong = NCAA Division I independent schools (ice hockey)
|conference = Independent
|endyear = 1939
|}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 1937–38
| name = Illinois
| overall = 0–4–0
| conference =
| confstanding =
| postseason =
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 1938–39
| name = Illinois
| overall = 3–7–0
| conference =
| confstanding =
| postseason =
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record End
|overall = 3–11–0
|confrecord =
}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- Doug Cartland, Ray Eliot: The Spirit and Legend of Mr. Illini. Champaign, IL: Sagamore Publishing, 2012.
External links
- {{Find a Grave|125101208}}
{{navboxes|list=
{{Illinois College Blueboys football coach navbox}}
{{Illinois Fighting Illini football coach navbox}}
{{Illinois Fighting Illini men's ice hockey navbox}}
{{Illinois Fighting Illini athletic director navbox}}
{{Amos Alonzo Stagg Award}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eliot, Ray}}
Category:American football guards
Category:Illinois College Blueboys baseball coaches
Category:Illinois College Blueboys football coaches
Category:Illinois Fighting Illini athletic directors
Category:Illinois Fighting Illini football players
Category:Illinois Fighting Illini baseball coaches
Category:Illinois Fighting Illini football coaches
Category:University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty
Category:Kents Hill School alumni
Category:Players of American football from Boston
Category:Presidents of the American Football Coaches Association