Maryland Terrapins football under Jim Tatum
From 1947 to 1955, Jim Tatum served as the head coach of the Maryland Terrapins football team, which represented the University of Maryland in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) college football. Maryland hired Tatum to replace Clark Shaughnessy after the 1946 season. Tatum had created both success and controversy during his one season as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners football team. During his nine-year tenure, Tatum became one of the most successful head football coaches in Maryland history, and the Terrapins compiled two national championships, three conference championships, and five bowl game appearances. His teams compiled a 73–15–4 record without a single losing season, and as of the end of 2016, he has the highest winning percentage of any Maryland football coach who coached at least seven games. In 1954, the University of Maryland appointed a new president, Dr. Wilson Elkins, who chose to de-emphasize football. Following the 1955 season, Tatum took a pay cut to coach at his alma mater, North Carolina, and he died four years later.
Maryland Terrapins football under Jim Tatum
In 1946, with the recommendation of Oklahoma athletic director Jap Haskell, Tatum was hired as the Sooners' head coach and brought Wilkinson as an assistant. Tatum replaced Dewey Luster, who resigned due to ill health. Luster had struggled in the position as the Second World War put a continuous and heavy drain on athletes at the University of Oklahoma. The final game before Luster's resignation was a 0–47 loss at the hands of Oklahoma A&M, which rounded out Oklahoma's 1945 season with a 5–5 record.
In Tatum's one season at Oklahoma, he led the Sooners to an 8–3 finish and a share of the Big Six Conference championship. Tatum and his staff also recruited nine players who became All-Americans: Plato Andros, Buddy Burris, Jack Mitchell, Jim Owens, John Rapacz, Darrell Royal, George Thomas, Wade Walker, and Stan West.