Elza Williams "Elgie" Tobin (May 7, 1886 – September 3, 1953) was a professional American football player with the independent Youngstown Patricians, and a player-coach with the Akron Pros of the American Professional Football Association (renamed the National Football League in 1922) where he wore number 8.[1] Tobin played with Patricians from 1915 until 1919. When the team folded, Tobin joined the Akron Pros of the newly formed AFPA. In 1920, Tobin coached the Pros to win the first ever NFL Championship.[2] The very next season, he split the team's coaching duties with Fritz Pollard, making Pollard the first African-American coach in the NFL.

Elgie Tobin

Tobin pictured in La Vie 1915, Penn State yearbook
Personal information
Born:	(1886-05-07)May 7, 1886 Roscoe, Pennsylvania
Died:	August 3, 1953(1953-08-03) (aged 68)
Height:	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight:	180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High school:	Coal Center (PA) California
College:	West Virginia (1907), Penn State (1912–1914)
Position:	Blocking back
Career history
As a player:
Youngstown Patricians (1915–1919) Akron Pros (1920–1921)
As a coach:
West Virginia (1915; assistant) West Virginia (1916–1917; assistant head coach) Akron Pros (1920–1921)
Career highlights and awards
NFL Champion (1920) Ohio League champion (1915)
Career NFL statistics
Games played: 9 Games started: 2
Head coaching record
Career:	16–3–4 (.783)
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

In 1922 Tobin was slated to coach a new Youngstown team in the National Football League; this project died in the planning stages.

Prior to playing professional football, Tobin played college football at Pennsylvania State University and West Virginia University. He lettered in football for the Mountaineers in 1907. At Penn State, where records list him as "Yegg Tobin", he lettered for three years (1912, 1913, 1914).

References