Ray Eliot

For those of a similar name, see Ray Elliot (disambiguation).

Raymond Eliot "Butch" Nusspickel (June 13, 1905 – February 24, 1980) was an American football and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator.

Ray Eliot

Eliot, circa 1942
Biographical details
Born	(1905-06-03)June 3, 1905 Brighton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	February 24, 1980(1980-02-24) (aged 74) Urbana, Illinois, U.S.
Playing career
1930–1931	Illinois
Position(s)	Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1932–1933	Illinois College (assistant)
1934–1936	Illinois College
1937–1941	Illinois (line)
1942–1959	Illinois
Baseball
1933–1937	Illinois College
Ice hockey
1937–1939	Illinois
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1979	Illinois (interim AD)
Head coaching record
Overall	98–80–12 (football) 3–11–0 (ice hockey)
Bowls	2–0
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1 national (1951) 3 Big Ten (1946, 1951, 1953)
Awards
Amos Alonzo Stagg Award (1961)

Early life

Eliot lettered as a guard for Illinois three times: twice for football (1930, 1931) and once for baseball (1930).

Coaching career

He served as the head football coach at Illinois College from 1934 to 1936 and at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign from 1942 to 1959, compiling a career college football record of 98–80–12. Eliot was also the head baseball coach at Illinois College from 1933 to 1937. His Illinois Fighting Illini football teams won three Big Ten Conference championships (1946, 1951, and 1953) and two Rose Bowls (1947 and 1952).

Notable players during Eliot's tenure included Bobby Mitchell and Ray Nitschke. Eliot stepped down in 1959 and was succeeded by Pete Elliott. ^[1] Eliot, who spent almost his entire career at the University of Illinois—he was a student athlete, an assistant football coach, head football coach, associate athletic director, and finally the interim athletic director for the university—was nicknamed "Mr. Illini." He attended the University of Illinois, played as a guard on the football team in 1930 and 1931, and was a member of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.

Eliot was also the first head coach of the Illini hockey team in 1937.

Personal life

He died of an apparent heart attack on February 24, 1980, in Urbana, Illinois.^[2]

Legacy

Eliot's 1951 Illinois squad is currently the last Illini team to finish the season with no losses. Eliot is remembered by the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association through its Ray Eliot Award.^[3] Eliot was inducted into the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018.^[4]

Head coaching record

Football

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	Coaches#	AP°
Illinois College Blueboys (Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1934–1936)
1934	Illinois College	6–1	5–1	T–3rd
1935	Illinois College	5–3	5–1	T–3rd
1936	Illinois College	4–3–1	2–2–1	T–10th
Illinois College:		15–7–1	12–4–1
Illinois Fighting Illini (Big Ten Conference) (1942–1959)
1942	Illinois	6–4	3–2	T–3rd
1943	Illinois	3–7	2–4	6th
1944	Illinois	5–4–1	3–3	6th			15
1945	Illinois	2–6–1	1–4–1	7th
1946	Illinois	8–2	6–1	1st	W Rose		5
1947	Illinois	5–3–1	3–3	T–3rd
1948	Illinois	3–6	2–5	8th
1949	Illinois	3–4–2	3–3–1	5th
1950	Illinois	7–2	4–2	4th		11	13
1951	Illinois	9–0–1	5–0–1	1st	W Rose	3	4
1952	Illinois	4–5	2–5	T–6th
1953	Illinois	7–1–1	5–1	T–1st		7	7
1954	Illinois	1–8	0–6	10th
1955	Illinois	5–3–1	3–3–1	5th
1956	Illinois	2–5–2	1–4–2	8th
1957	Illinois	4–5	3–4	7th
1958	Illinois	4–5	4–3	6th
1959	Illinois	5–3–1	4–2–1	T–3rd		12	13
Illinois:		83–73–11	54–55–7
Total:		98–80–12
National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth
#Rankings from final Coaches Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll.

Ice hockey

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Illinois Fighting Illini Independent (1937–1939)
1937–38	Illinois	0–4–0
1938–39	Illinois	3–7–0
Total:		3–11–0
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

See also

• List of presidents of the American Football Coaches Association