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James Aiken ’23 was a member of the 1921 Rose Bowl Team which celebrated its 100th anniversary this past January in Pasadena, California.
Born in Wheeling, West Virginia and raised in Tiltonsville, Ohio, he was a standout athlete at Martins Ferry High School. Following the First World War, Aiken enrolled at W&J and earned four letters in football as an end for the Presidents.
Following graduation, Aiken embarked on a successful coaching career. He coached at high schools in Pennsylvania and Ohio and then was named the head coach at the University of Akron where he posted a 19-7-1 record from 1936-38.
Aiken was hired at the University of Nevada in 1939, and his first team turned in a 5-4 record and won the Far Western Conference title. Aiken recruited far and wide, and many of his players went on to the professional ranks. These included Marion Motley, Gus Cifelli, and Buster McClure.
During World War II, when most colleges without military cadet training programs dropped football, Aiken kept the sport alive at Nevada. He combined personnel with Reno Army Air Base’s team due to the lack of available students. Aiken’s efforts paid off in 1946 when his team, strengthened by returning servicemen and new recruits, turned in a 7-2 record. The 1946 team set several national NCAA records. He also served as Nevada’s athletics director from 1939-46 and coached the men’s basketball team during the 1944-45 season.
He went on to become head coach at the University of Oregon. During his second season in 1948, he led the resurgent Ducks to a 7-0 record and an appearance in The Cotton Bowl (lost 21-13 to SMU). Aiken chose then fifth-string quarterback Norm Van Brocklin as his starting signal caller who went on to play 12 seasons in the NFL and earned induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971.
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