By Mike Pearson, FightingIllini.com

Telling the story of George Huff and his influence on University of Illinois history is one that includes many layers. He grew from a raw, strapping Champaign farm boy into a physically dominating athlete, then later evolved from a strategically talented coach into a visionary administrator.

But the full character of Huff extended far beyond the athletic fields and arenas. His is a story of a man consumed with loyalty, spirit, moral fiber and a deep respect for humanity.

In part one this series, readers will learn about Huff's family heritage and his early successes in life. In part two, we provide details about the men with whom he surrounded himself and how he molded Fighting Illini athletics into a nationally prominent program. Finally, in part three, Huff's legacy is explained through the tributes of the men who knew him best.

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PART ONE:  HOMETOWN BOY MAKES GOOD

Champaign, Illinois was less than two decades old when George Alexander Huff entered the world on June 11, 1872. It was a community surrounded by fertile soil but, as pioneer and historian H.J. Robinson wrote, "much of it was under water."

The city got its name from the natives of Champaign County in Ohio who were attracted to East Central Illinois by the temptations of inexpensive farmland. Huff's parents, 30-year-old George Sr. and his 26-year-old wife, Mary, had migrated 75 miles westward from Crawfordsville, Indiana to seek a better life.

The nation's wounds from the great Civil War were still fresh and, nearby, a new university, founded just five years earlier, was blossoming.

It's unclear exactly where the Huff's home was when George Jr. joined the world with his then five-year-old sister, Berta. Records indicate that the Huffs settled on a farm located adjacent to what now is the intersection of First and John Streets. It was land originally purchased by young George's grandfather, Abraham.

By Huff's teenage years, they moved to a house located near Champaign's future Fourth and Healey Streets.

According to an article in the Daily Illini, George Sr. supported his family through an assortment of farm-related professions, including being a dealer of horses, animal feed, ice and carriages. He also was the proprietor of Huff's Dairy, which likely means young George and his sister milked cows while they were growing up.

Huff Jr. attended grade school in Champaign but is said to have briefly attended Englewood High School on the south side of Chicago. He returned to Champaign-Urbana's old University Academy to finish his prep schooling.

Sixteen-year-old George enrolled for classes at the University of Illinois in the fall of 1888. A few months later, he earned his first varsity letter for UI's baseball team, primarily as a catcher. Though he was still a teenager, Huff became captain and manager of the Illini club in 1890.

That Fall, at the urging of Normal, Illinois classmate Scott Williams, the six-foot, 240-pound Huff tried a new sport called football. It was just being introduced on midwestern campuses. On October 2, 1890, with Williams filling the roles of quarterback, captain and coach, Huff and his teammates played their very first game, losing by a score of 16-0 to Illinois Wesleyan. Illinois would gain revenge in a rematch eight weeks later at the Champaign County Fairgrounds, 12-6.

A football tradition was underway at the University of Illinois.

Said Williams of that first team, "Some fine things have happened in the history of Illinois athletics, but I know of nothing finer than the loyalty that made the prominent athletes of their day submit to the orders of a freshman captain and punish themselves physically and mentally by playing a game that they then despised. George Huff played for a long time from sheer loyalty."

Huff lettered once more in both football and baseball before graduating in the spring of 1892. Then UI athletic director E.K. Hall spotted Huff's burgeoning leadership qualities and advised him to consider a career in athletics. But instead, Huff matriculated to Dartmouth College in 1893 to study medicine. During his four academic terms in Hanover, New Hampshire, Huff lettered in both football and baseball.

University of Illinois President Andrew Draper, who had attended a January 1895 meeting in Chicago that would form the nation's first collegiate conference (eventually known as the Big Ten), wrote to Huff and encouraged him to return to Champaign-Urbana. Four months later, Huff became the coach of all of UI's athletic teams and assistant director of the gymnasium.

As momentum grew in Illini athletics, so too evolved Huff's personal life. The 25-year-old married Katherine Naughton in December of 1897. Their first of three children, Katherine, was born two years later, followed by a second daughter, Elizabeth, in 1901, and a son, George III, in 1905.

Though football struggled, Huff's favorite sport—baseball—prospered, with the Illini nine winning their first conference title in 1900.  Recognizing Huff's unmistakable talent as a leader, Draper promoted him to become athletic director when Jacob Shell departed for his native Pennsylvania.

As a coach, Huff's Illini baseball teams continued to dominate their conference competition for the next dozen seasons, winning seven titles (1903, '04, '06, '07, '08, '10 and '11) and finishing as the runner-up the other five years.

Huff's success didn't go unnoticed, with his fame spreading all the way to the big leagues. Several of his Illini players had risen to the Majors, including Jake Stahl, Fred Beebe and Carl Lundgren.

When Boston manager, Chick Stahl (no relation to Jake) committed suicide in late March of 1907, Red Sox owner John Taylor traveled all the way from Massachusetts to call on Huff in Urbana. Surprising everyone, Huff committed to manage the Sox, succeeding interim skipper Cy Young (yes, that Cy Young).

Boston historians wrote that players were shocked that the Taylor had chosen Huff and disrespectfully referred to him as "Professor." After just two weeks, having compiled a lackluster record of 2-6, Huff saw the writing on the proverbial wall. His grand experiment with professional baseball ended when handed in his resignation and boarded the first westbound train he could catch back to Illinois. Never again did the thought of managing in the "bigs" cross his mind.

Back at the University of Illinois that year, Arthur Hall, an Illini letterman from 1898 to 1900, began coaching Huff's football team. Hall's gridiron program began slowly, but crescendoed into Big Ten champs by 1910, not only winning all seven games but also shutting out every one of its opponents. Hall's primary "day" job was practicing law in Danville, and at the end of the 1912 season, he decided that the pace of his life was too hectic. He turned in his resignation to Huff.

"G" soon began looking for Hall's replacement. His ultimate decision was one that would significantly affect the course of University of Illinois history.

Coming:  A high school coach takes over in Champaign