Miami University first fielded a football team in 1888 with the mascot of the Redskins. There was no head football coach in the team's first two seasons or from 1898–1899 nor was there a team fielded in 1890. The team's first head coach was C. K. Fauver, who led MU in 1895 to a 3–0 record. Under head coach James C. Donnelly, the Redskins compiled a 14–8–2 record from 1912–1914. George Little was named Miami's head coach for the 1916 season succeeding Chester J. Roberts. His first team went 7–0–1 and won the Ohio Athletic Conference. This team gave up only six points, all in a game against Wooster, with the only blemish on their record being a 0–0 tie with Denison. Little's tenure was interrupted by his service in the armed forces during World War I. He served as a captain in the infantry from August 15, 1917, to August 7, 1918. He returned and led the Redskins to a 7–1 record in 1919 and a 5–2–1 record in 1920. He once again won the Ohio Athletic Conference championship in 1921 with a perfect 8–0 record. The 1921 team scored 238 points during the season and gave up only 13. In his four years as Miami's head coach, Little compiled a record of 27–3–2 including 21 games where the opponent did not score a single point. He left Miami to become Fielding H. Yost's top assistant at Michigan.