On September 16, 1960 Amos Alonzo Stagg retires as a football coach at 98. He later died at 102. He was the innovator who bought us most of the things we take for granted. From the article:
"The following is a list of innovations Stagg introduced to American football. Where known, the year of its first use is annotated in parentheses. Stagg is noted as a 'contributor' if he was one of a group of individuals responsible for a given innovation.
Ends-back formation (1890)
Reverse play (1890)
7–2–2 defense (1890)
First indoor game (1891)
First book on football with diagrams (1893; with Minnesota's Henry Williams)
First intersectional game (1894)
center snap (1894; John Heisman and Walter Camp claimed to have invented it in 1893)
onside kick (1894; possibly contributor)
huddle (1896)
quick kick (1896)
Short punt (1896)
Spiral snap (1896; contributor alongside Walter Camp, George Washington Woodruff and Germany Schulz)
line shift (1897)
placement kick (1897; Stagg believed Princeton used it earlier)
lateral pass (1898)
tackling dummy (1899)
unbalanced line (1900)
Notre Dame Box (1905)
varsity letters (1906)
Statue of Liberty play (1908)
uniform numbers (1913)
T formation (contributor)
forward pass (contributor alongside Eddie Cochems and Walter Camp)
man in motion
sleeper play
quarterback keeper
delayed buck
linebacker position
hip pads
numerical designation of plays
padded goalposts
end-around"