John Frederick McLean was the Knox football coach in 1901 and 1902. Coach McLean’s teams at Knox compiled a record of 17-5-1 and outscored the opposition 469-90.
His 1902 squad, which achieved a 9-2 record, was ranked #9 in the nation among all college football teams. Knox defeated Northwestern 15-0, Kansas 5-0, and #19 ranked Notre Dame 12-5. The victory against Notre Dame gave Knox the title “College Champion of the West.”
In 1902 Knox lost only to #5 ranked University of Chicago (who went 14-1), coached by Amos Alonzo Stagg, and #3 ranked University of Nebraska (who went 10-0) by a combined total of 12 points. Newspaper accounts of the Chicago game indicated that Knox outplayed Stagg’s team, but was “robbed” of the game by the official, who was a Chicago grad. Knox posted seven shutouts in 1902, didn’t allow more than seven points in a game, and outscored opponents 238-22.
Coach McLean’s 1901 team finished the campaign with an 8-3-1 record. The only losses were against the University of Chicago, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Iowa.
The Knox Student wrote about the football team’s turnaround under Coach McLean in a December 5, 1902 article.
“John F. McLean came to Knox in the fall of 1901. The season before had seen the darkest day in Knox athletics, when the purple and gold went down in the mire at Beloit by the score of 43 to 0. McLean came and with his coming a light but nervy and speedy team, did credit to old Knox. Team work, such as was never seen before, characterized Knox and with mediocre material McLean showed that he was a coach…McLean advanced ideas that has done more for Knox than all his team work. He got Galesburg men squarely behind Knox and solicited successfully their support. As a result Knox now stands as it never has before…”
Coach McLean’s winning percentage of .761 is the highest of any football coach that served two years or longer in Knox history.
“As a student McLean made a specialty in English and after graduation from Michigan (University) in 1900 he became instructor in English at St. John’s Military school, Delafield, Wisconsin. From there he was called to Knox as instructor in English and director of Athletics,” according to a 1901 article in
The Knox Student.
Besides his success as a Knox football coach, John McLean won an Olympic medal.
He won the silver medal at the 1900 Paris Olympics in the 110 meter high hurdles in a time of 15.5 seconds. He also finished third in the fastest heats of the 220 meter low hurdles and the 800 meters at that Olympiad. He was a competitor in the broad jump, but along with the other American athletes, did not compete in the finals because they were held on a Sunday.
