Frank Anthony Piekarski (August 17, 1879 – August 15, 1951) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player and coach who later served as a judge in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. He attended the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, where he played college football for the

Penn Quakers The Penn Quakers are the athletic teams of the University of Pennsylvania. The school sponsors 33 varsity sports. The school has won three NCAA national championships in men's fencing and one in women's fencing. School colors There are s ...

as a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

from 1901 to 1904. Piekarski was a third-team selection to the 1903 College Football All-America Team and a consensus first-team pick on the 1904 College Football All-America Team. He was among the first Polish-Americans to gain recognition in college football. Following his graduation from Penn, Piekarski served as the head football coach at

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries t ...

from 1905 to 1907, leading the Red and Black to a record of 25–7 in three seasons. In 1914 he returned to his alma mater, Penn, as an assistant football coach in charge of the

linemen Lineman or linesman may refer to: In personal roles: *Lineworker, one who installs and maintains electrical power, telephone, or telegraph lines *Lineman (gridiron football), a position in American football *Head linesman, the American football of ...

under head coach George H. Brooke. Piekarski was also a lawyer. In 1933, he became a judge in

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Allegheny County () is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's second-most populous county, following Philadelphia Co ...

. Piekarski died in 1951 at Pittsburgh Hospital in Pittsburgh. In 2005, he was named to the

National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame The National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame and Museum was founded in 1973. The mission of the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame is to recognize and preserve outstanding achievement by individuals of Polish heritage in the field o ...

Head coaching record

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* 1879 births 1951 deaths American football guards Penn Quakers football coaches Penn Quakers football players Washington & Jefferson Presidents football coaches All-American college football players Judges of the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas Pennsylvania lawyers People from Nanticoke, Pennsylvania Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania American politicians of Polish descent {{US-state-judge-stub