Harry Hazlett

Who was Harry Hazlett?

Harry Fouts Hazlett was a career officer in the U.S. Army. Prior to that he was an American football coach for the Canton Professionals-Bulldogs of the "Ohio League", which was the direct predecessor to the modern National Football League, as well as the head football and basketball coach at Canton McKinley High School. He was fired as the head coach of the Canton Bulldogs, by manager Jack Cusack, after he benched Canton rookie Jim Thorpe for the first game of the 1915 league title game. The first game in the two-game series resulted in a 16–0 victory over the Bulldogs by their rivals, the Massillon Tigers. It is unknown why Hazlett benched Thorpe. Some historians feel it was due to Thorpe not having time to practice with the team, while others feel that he resented Thorpe's high salary. After Hazlett was fired, the Bulldogs' quarterback, Don Hamilton, left the team in protest. Thorpe was later named the team's new head coach and led the Bulldogs to the 1915 championship, which was split between Canton and Massillon.

Hazlett joined the Ohio National Guard as a captain in 1916 and participated in the Mexican Expedition. During World War I, he served as a machine gun officer and was cited for bravery. After the war, he taught at the University of Akron and the University of Dayton as a Professor of Military Science and Tactics. Before World War II, Hazlett attended the Army War College and published a paper, Procurement and Processing during the Voluntary Enlistment Period of Initial Mobilization, in 1933. Then Lt. Colonel Hazlett served as an instructor at the Army Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth from 1935 to 1936.