Who wore white shoes first?

Answer 1

The first team to wear white football shoes was the 1959 Massillon Washinton HS (Ohio) Football Team, which were undefeated national champions that year. Their head coach was Leo E. Strang. He was an art major in college (Ashland College, now Ashland University). He also was the first to use helmet decals. He first experimented with colored football shoes in 1957 at E. Cleveland Shaw HS (where he coached Baltimore Colt legend Tom Matte) with red shoes with white trim. He also introducted tear away jerseys (that used snaps) while at Massillon, and he used multiple combinations of pants and jerseys so his teams never had to wear the same uniform twice. He noted that the white shoes gave his players a psychological lift because it made them look very fast, particularly under Friday night lights. He would tell the players if they did not play well, he would go back to black, which he did not have to do. He had three state and two national championships at Massillon from '58-'63. For further information and for confirmation, check the many Massillon Tiger web sites or Google Leo Strang.