Jim Tatum
James M. "Big Jim" Tatum (July 22, 1913 – July 23, 1959) was an American football and baseball player and coach. Tatum served as the head football coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1942, 1956–1958), the University of Oklahoma (1946), and the University of Maryland, College Park (1947–1955), compiling a career college football record of 100–35–7. His 1953 Maryland team won a national title. As a head coach, he employed the split-T formation with great success, a system he had learned as an assistant under Don Faurot at the Iowa Pre-Flight School during World War II. Tatum was also the head baseball coach at Cornell University from 1937 to 1939, tallying a mark of 20–40–1. Tatum's career was cut short by his untimely death in 1959. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1984.
Maryland Terrapins football
The Terrapins entered 1956 ranked number-six, but after the departure of Tatum, they suffered their first losing season in a decade. It marked the beginning of a long undistinguished period of Maryland history, and between 1956 and 1971, they compiled a record of 50–100–1 and only three winning seasons. In 1967, they suffered their first and only winless season in 75 years. High points during this period included victories over 14th-ranked North Carolina in 1957, 11th-ranked Clemson in 1959, eighth-ranked in 1960, and seventh-ranked Syracuse in 1961. In 1962, assistant coach Lee Corso convinced African-American wide receiver Darryl Hill to transfer from the Naval Academy. Hill broke the color barrier in football at four institutions: Gonzaga High School, the Naval Academy, Maryland, and the ACC. In 1965, back Bob Sullivan led the nation with 10 interceptions.