Willard Hyatt

{{Short description|American athlete and football coach (1883–1967)}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Willard Hyatt

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1883|6|15}}

| birth_place = Meriden, Connecticut, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1967|4|10|1883|6|15}}

| death_place = Meriden, Connecticut, U.S.

| alma_mater =

| player_sport1 = Football

| player_years2 = 1903–1904

| player_team2 = Yale

| player_sport3 = Basketball

| player_years4 = 1902–1905

| player_team4 = Yale

| player_positions = Center (basketball)

| coach_sport1 = Football

| coach_years2 = 1905

| coach_team2 = Sewanee

| overall_record = 4–2–1

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships =

| awards = Basketball
Consensus All-American (1905)

| coaching_records =

}}

Willard Curtis Hyatt (June 15, 1883 – April 10, 1967) was an American college football player and coach and college basketball player. An All-American basketball player at Yale University in 1904–05, he was part of the first group of college basketball players to be honored as such, and it occurred during his senior year. The Helms Athletic Foundation, which began in 1936, retroactively named the All-American teams from 1905 to 1935. Between 1905 and 1929, the Helms All-American teams are considered to be consensus selections.{{Cite web | title = NCAA Men's Basketball Consensus All-Americans | work = 2010–11 NCAA Men's Basketball Media Guide | publisher = National Collegiate Athletic Association | year = 2010| url = http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/2011/awards.pdf| accessdate = April 1, 2011}}{{Cite book | title = The Chosen: The Hidden History of Admission and Exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton | publisher = First Mariner Books | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zwf-Ofc--toC&q=willard+hyatt+yale&pg=PA631 | format =PDF | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-0-618-77355-8 | access-date = April 1, 2011}} Following is graduation from Yale in June 1905, Hyatt served as the head football coach at Sewanee: The University of the South for one season, in the fall of 1905, compiling a record of 4–2–1.{{Cite news |author= |title=To Start A Long Trip |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84016794/record-journal/ |newspaper=The Meriden Record |location=Meriden, Connecticut |date=November 3, 1905 |page=2 |access-date=August 23, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}{{Cite news |author= |title=Coach Is Selected |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84017138/the-tennessean/ |newspaper=The Tennessean |location=Nashville, Tennessee |date=March 21, 1905 |page=7 |access-date=August 23, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}

Hyatt was born on June 15, 1883, in Meriden, Connecticut, to Isaac Beach and Jennie Bishop Hyatt. In 1908, he joined the firm of Little, Somers, & Hyatt Co., dealers of home decorations and artist supplies, later serving as president until his retirement around 1957. He died on April 10, 1967, at Meriden Hospital in Meriden, following a short illness.{{Cite news |author= |title=Williard C. Hyatt Dies, 85, Ex-Merchant, Yale Athlete |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84016006/obituary-for-willard-curtis-hyatt-aged/ |newspaper=The Morning Record |location=Meriden, Connecticut |date=April 11, 1967 |page=2 |access-date=August 23, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}