Tom Nugent, a College Football Hall of Famer who was credited with developing the I formation at Virginia Military Institute and later coached at Florida State and Maryland, died Thursday. He was 92.
Nugent died of congestive heart failure at a nursing home in Tallahassee, his family said.
Nugent also was credited with creating the ”typewriter” huddle where players stood in two rows rather than a circle while plays were being called. He was a head coach for 17 years, posting a 89-80-3 record before turning to broadcasting and public relations.
He was 19-18-2 at VMI from 1949-52. During his six years at Florida State, he also served as the school’s athletic director and coached ESPN college football analyst Lee Corso and actor Burt Reynolds.
”He put FSU on the map in the early years,” Reynolds said Thursday. “He was an innovator who brought a whole new style of football with the I formation. I love him and I’ll miss him.”