Frank S. Wilton Jr. (August 17, 1905 – December 17, 1977) 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 of football and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

. He served as the head football coach for

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the ...

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion of the state approximately northwest ...

from 1932 to 1941, compiling a record of 44–39–5. Wilton was also the head baseball coach at Miami from 1933 to 1942, tallying a mark of 74–47.

Playing career

Wilton lettered three seasons (1926–1928) in football for

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

at Stanford University. In his three years the Stanford football team went a combined 26–5–3 with two trips to the Rose Bowl. In 1927 against USC he caught a 74-yard touchdown pass from

Biff Hoffman Clifford Ellsworth "Biff" Hoffman (1904 – January 29, 1954) was an American football player. Early life Hoffman attended Petaluma High School in Petaluma, California, and then went on to attend Stanford University. Track and field At Stanfor ...

, which was at the time the longest in Stanford history.

Coaching career

Wilton came to

from Stanford and installed Pop Warner's double wingback offensive system. In his first two years, 1932 and 1933, he led the Redskins to Buckeye Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships. In those two years he only lost three games, two to

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

teams

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. The next two years his teams won only five games each year, but returned to championship form in 1936 with a 7–2 record and a share of the conference title. The Redskins slid to a 4–4–1 record in 1937, but rebounded in 1938 with a 6–3 record. The last three years of Wilton's tenure saw a drastic downturn in victories. The 1939, 1940, and 1941 seasons produced a total of three wins. After the 1941 season he was replaced by Stu Holcomb. Shortly after the Japanese

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

, Wilton resigned his duties at Miami, effective at the end of the school year, to join the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. He left Miami with the most football wins in school history, a record he retained until Randy Walker surpsed him in 1997. Wilton's 44 wins remain third in Miami football history, more than those tallied by Hall of Fame coaches George Little,

Sid Gillman Sidney Gillman (October 26, 1911 – January 3, 2003) was an American football player, coach and executive. Gillman's insistence on stretching the football field by throwing deep downfield passes, instead of short passes to running backs or w ...

Woody Hayes Wayne Woodrow Hayes (February 14, 1913 – March 12, 1987) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Denison University (1946–1948), Miami University in Oxford, Ohio (1949–1950), and Ohio State University (1951 ...

Ara Parseghian Ara Raoul Parseghian (; hy, Արա Ռաուլ Պարսեղյան; May 21, 1923 – August 2, 2017) was an American football player and coach who guided the University of Notre Dame to national championships in 1966 and 1973. He is noted for br ...

, and Bo Schembechler.

Military service and later life

Wilton was commissioned as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he was based at NRAB/NAS Millington, a pre-flight cadet training base in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. As a

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

with ComAir

7th Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of ...

in the Pacific theater, he ran athletic programs for aviators' R&R. After the war, Wilton ran athletic programs at NAS

Saint Mary's College of California Saint Mary's College of California is a private Catholic college in Moraga, California. Established in 1863, it is affiliated with the Catholic Church and administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college offers undergraduate and graduate ...

. When he left the Navy, he became a training coordinator with the

Kimberly-Clark Corporation Kimberly-Clark Corporation is an American multinational personal care corporation that produces mostly paper-based consumer products. The company manufactures sanitary paper products and surgical & medical instruments. Kimberly-Clark brand n ...

Neenah, Wisconsin Neenah () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, in the north central United States. It is situated on the banks of Lake Winnebago, Little Lake Butte des Morts, and the Fox River, approximately forty miles (60 km) southwest of Green ...

. In his early years there, he coached the company football team for two seasons. After 20 years at Kimberly-Clark and six years of working and traveling in Central America and South America, Wilton moved to

Hanford, California Hanford is a city and county seat of Kings County, California, located in the San Joaquin Valley region of the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley. The population was 53,967 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History ...

. He died on December 17, 1977, in

Solvang, California Solvang (; ) is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. It is located in the Santa Ynez Valley. The population was 6,126 at the 2020 census, up from 5,245 at the 2010 census. Solvang was founded in 1911 and incorporated as a city on May ...

Head coaching record

Football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilton, Frank 1905 births 1977 deaths American football halfbacks Miami RedHawks baseball coaches Miami RedHawks football coaches Stanford Cardinal football coaches Stanford Cardinal football players High school football coaches in California United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy officers Sportspeople from Chicago Players of American football from California Players of American football from Chicago Military personnel from Illinois