Football at Auburn University has a long and storied history that all began with a man who didn't even attend school on the Plains. George Petrie is best known for coaching the first football team and writing the Auburn Creed, but he also gave Auburn its colors and brought the sport here. These are the kind of tidbits Mike Jernigan, an Auburn alumnus, discovered when he researched the materials Petrie left to Auburn. He sifted through 29 boxes of information to write the "Auburn Man: The Life and Times of George Petrie."

Jernigan called Petrie a "treasure" for all he did for Auburn, which is so much more than coaching for two years and writing a creed.

"That has really overshadowed many of his other accomplishments," he said.

Jernigan, who is on the faculty at Lee-Scott Academy, spoke Thursday afternoon about the book at the first installment of the "Discover Auburn" lecture series.

Petrie was recruited by Alabama A&M College President William L. Broun to teach on the Plains in 1887. He stayed for two years before he left to earn a doctorate at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. The decision turned out to have major consequences for Petrie and Auburn.

Petrie became the first Alabamian and the first AU faculty member to earn a doctorate because of his decision; and he also met Woodrow Wilson who turned Petrie onto the sport of football.

"When Petrie returned to Auburn in 1891, he brought football back with him," Jernigan said.

The first team was faculty and students, but Petrie had high hopes. He was instrumental in arranging the first meeting between Auburn and Georgia. Since Auburn had yet to play another school in an organized sport, there were no team colors.

Petrie thought orange and blue, like his alma mater, the University of Virginia, would be adequate.

"That is where Auburn colors came from," Jernigan said.

Besides football, Jernigan thinks Petrie should be credited for recruiting the first women to Auburn. Although it wasn't official until the fall of 1892, Jernigan learned that Petrie encouraged women to attend classes that summer.

After dismal performances, Petrie decided coaching was a job for a professional, not a history professor, and players needed to be recruited, not selected from the faculty or student body.

He gave up coaching in December of that year, not even staying on long enough to coach the first Auburn-Alabama game which he helped arrange. He remained a beloved faculty member for more than 50 years.

He wrote the Auburn Creed in 1943 after retirement. Jernigan said there is no story or record of why. He believes Petrie's passion for Auburn was rooted in his loyalty to his students. The creed, football and such were "all gifts he left to Auburn," Jernigan said.