Hall of Fame
After fumbling the opening kickoff of the season as a sophomore, John Pont retrieved the ball and returned it 96 yards for a touchdown in what proved to be the beginning of a legendary career at Miami. In three years as an All-MAC halfback, Pont scored 27 touchdowns, gained 2,390 yards in 340 rushing attempts and returned 33 kickoffs for 874 yards some Miami records today.
Pont totaled 4,184 yards of total offense. He was part of the 1950 MAC championship team coached by Woody Hayes that also recorded a 34-21 win over Arizona State in the Salad Bowl. Pont was part of the first team All-MAC in 1949,1950, and 1951. He led the MAC in rushing with 977 yards in 1949 and 883 in 1951, and was considered to be the leading sophomore rusher in the nation. He led the MAC in scoring with 54 points in 1949 and topped Miami with 66 points in 1951.
His jersey No. 42, is the first of only four to be retired at Miami.
Following graduation in 1952, he played one season of professional football at Toronto. He returned to Miami in 1953 to be freshman football coach under Parseghian. When Parseghian went to Northwestern in 1956, Pont moved on to the head job for Miami. In seven years his teams compiled a record of 43 wins, 22 defeats and two ties and won MAC titles in 1957 and 1958.
He became the head football coach at Yale in 1963 and had a two-year mark of 12-5-1 before moving to Indiana in 1965. Pont accomplished the seemingly impossible in 1967 when he led a sophomore team to a share of the Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl. For this feat he was selected Coach of the Year by both the Football Writers Association and the American Football Coaches Association.He also coached for Northwestern and Mount St. Joseph.
Pont became a charter member of Miami's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1969.
