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.

[3] He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he played college football as a tackle under head coach Carl Snavely.

[7] In September 1935, Tatum participated in training camp with the New York Giants of the National Football League at Blue Hill Country Club.

[9] Tatum enlisted in the United States Navy after one season as the head coach at North Carolina following Raymond Wolf's departure for naval service in 1941.

[n 1] Tatum had originally returned to North Carolina to coach the freshmen football team in 1939 after spending time as an assistant at Cornell University.

His first stint is notable for his recruitment of Felix "Doc" Blanchard, a son of one of his cousins, who played on the freshman team before enlisting and later starring as "Mr.

He was declared dead at 11:40 p.m.[11] His ailment was later determined to be a rickettsial disease "similar to typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever".

The 2022 recipient is Dillan Gibbons, a graduate student-athlete earning his MBA from Florida State University.