John Pont

John Pont

Sport(s)	Football
Biographical details
Born	(1927-11-13)November 13, 1927 Canton, Ohio
Died	Oxford, Ohio
Playing career
1949–1951	Miami (OH)
1952	Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
Position(s)	Halfback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1953–1955	Miami (OH) (assistant)
1956–1962	Miami (OH)
1963–1964	Yale
1965–1972	Indiana
1973–1977	Northwestern
1984–1989	Hamilton HS (OH)
1990–1992	Mount St. Joseph
1990–2004	ROCBULL (X-League)
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1975–1980	Northwestern
Head coaching record
Overall	107–141–4 (college)
Bowls	0–2
Statistics College Football Data Warehouse
Accomplishments and honors
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)

John Pont (November 13, 1927 – July 1, 2008) was an American football player and coach. He served as head coach at Miami University, Yale University, Northwestern University and Indiana University. 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. 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.

Pont's number 42 displayed at Yager Stadium. Pont is one of four football players to have his number retired by Miami University.

Pont was born on November 13, 1927 in Canton, Ohio to Bautista and Suzannah Pont. 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. Pont died at his home in Oxford, Ohio on July 1, 2008.

Playing career

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.

Head coaching record

College

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	Coaches#	AP°
Miami Redskins (Mid-American Conference) (1956–1962)
1956	Miami	7–1–1	4–0–1	2nd
1957	Miami	6–3	5–0	1st
1958	Miami	6–3	5–0	1st
1959	Miami	5–4	3–2	3rd
1960	Miami	5–5	2–3	4th
1961	Miami	6–4	3–2	3rd
1962	Miami	8–2–1	3–1–1	3rd	L Tangerine
Miami:		43–22–2	25–8–2
Yale Bulldogs (Ivy League) (1963–1964)
1963	Yale	6–3	4–3	T–4th
1964	Yale	6–2–1	4–2–1	3rd
Yale:		12–5–1	8–5–1
Indiana Hoosiers (Big Ten Conference) (1965–1972)
1965	Indiana	2–8	1–6	9th
1966	Indiana	1–8–1	1–5–1	9th
1967	Indiana	9–2	6–1	T–1st	L Rose	6	4
1968	Indiana	6–4	4–3	T–5th
1969	Indiana	4–6	3–4	T–5th
1970	Indiana	1–9	1–6	T–9th
1971	Indiana	3–8	2–6	9th
1972	Indiana	5–6	3–5	T–6th
Indiana:		31–51–1	21–36–1
Northwestern Wildcats (Big Ten Conference) (1973–1977)
1973	Northwestern	5–6	4–4	T–4th
1974	Northwestern	2–8	2–6	T–7th
1975	Northwestern	3–8	2–6	9th
1976	Northwestern	1–10	1–7	10th
1977	Northwestern	1–10	1–8	10th
Northwestern:		12–43	10–31
Mount St. Joseph Lions (NAIA Division II Independent) (1990–1992)
1990	Mount St. Joseph	1–9
1991	Mount St. Joseph	4–6
1992	Mount St. Joseph	4–5
Mount St. Joseph:		9–20
Total:		107–141–4
National championship         Conference title         Conference division title
#Rankings from final Coaches Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll.

External links

• John Pont at the College Football Data Warehouse
• John Pont at Find a Grave