FOOTBALL COACH • 1942-59

Nicknamed “Mr. Illini,” Ray Eliot was one of the most popular and inspirational personalities in Fighting Illini history. He served as head football coach from 1942-1959, compiling a record of 83-73-11 during his 18 seasons. Illinois won Big Ten championships in 1946, 1951 and 1953, and were bestowed National Champion honors in 1951 with a 9-0-1 record and 40-7 victory over Stanford in the 1952 Rose Bowl. Born Ray Eliot Nussspickel, he lettered as a guard for the Illini football team in 1930 and 1931, and in 1930 with the baseball team. He also coached Fighting Illini hockey from 1937-39 as the program’s first head coach. Eliot’s 1946 football team was the first Big Ten squad to play in Rose Bowl after the agreement to pit the Big Ten and Pacific Coast Conference champions against each other in Pasadena. Eliot was a dynamic speaker who was best known for his inspiring speech “The Proper State of Mind.” Following his coaching career, he served the UI as an associate athletics director and interim athletics director, as well as an incredible Illini ambassador. Eliot died in 1980 at the age of 74.