Harry Augustus Stuhldreher (October 14, 1901 – January 26, 1965) 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, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...

from 1922 to 1924, where he was a three-time All-American and member of the legendary " Four Horsemen" backfield. After graduating from Notre Dame, Stuhldreher played professional football briefly with the Brooklyn Horsemen/Lions in 1926. He served as the head football coach at Villanova College—now known as

Villanova University Villanova University is a private Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1842 and named after Saint Thomas of Villanova. The university is the oldest Catholic university in Pennsy ...

—from 1925 to 1935 and at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

from 1936 to 1948, compiling a career

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

record of 110–87–15. Stuhldreher was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vo ...

as a player in 1958.

Early years and playing career

Stuhldreher was born in

Massillon, Ohio Massillon is a city in Stark County, Ohio, Stark County in the U.S. state of Ohio, approximately west of Canton, Ohio, Canton, south of Akron, and south of Cleveland. The population was 32,146 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Mass ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

stock, home of the Massillon Tigers professional football team.Onward to Victory: The Creation of Modern College Sports
/ref> There is a story, likely apocryphal, that as a boy Stuhldreher carried gear for future

football coach

Knute Rockne Knut ( Norwegian and Swedish), Knud ( Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used ...

when the latter was a Tigers star. Stuhldreher played football for both Massillon Washington High School and

The Kiski School , motto_translation = Guide Us Lord , address = 1888 Brett Lane , town = Saltsburg , state = Pennsylvania , zipcode = 15681-8951 , country = Uni ...

Saltsburg, Pennsylvania Saltsburg is a borough in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its location is in western Pennsylvania, in the southwestern corner of Indiana County near its border with Westmoreland County. The town was based on the construction of sal ...

, from which he graduated in 1921. At Notre Dame, he became quarterback in 1922 and in 1924 led the team to a 10–0 record, culminating in 27–10 win over

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...

in the 1925 Rose Bowl, and a national championship. He was one of the smallest quarterbacks in

Notre Dame football The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the intercollegiate College football, football team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana (CDP), Notre Dame, Indiana, north of the city of South Bend, Indiana. The team pla ...

history, standing 5' 7" tall and weighing just 151 pounds. After graduating, Stuhldreher joined fellow member of the Four Horsemen Elmer Layden on the roster of the

Brooklyn Horsemen The Brooklyn Lions were a National Football League team that played in the 1926 NFL season. The team was formed as the league's counter-move to the first American Football League, which enfranchised a team called the Brooklyn Horsemen, a professi ...

of the first American Football League. After playing only six games of the 1926 season, the Horsemen merged with the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

's Brooklyn Lions franchise, which then was renamed the Horsemen. The AFL, the Brooklyn NFL franchise, and Stuhldreher's major league football career all ended with the last game of the season.

Coaching career

Stuhldreher turned to college coaching, initially also moonlighting for independent pro teams on weekends. He served for 11 years (1925–1935) as head coach at

, compiling a 65–25–9 record, and 13 years (1936–1948) as head coach and athletic director at the

. During his tenure at Wisconsin, he compiled a 45–62–6 (.425) record, and the Badgers were twice the

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 ...

runner-up under his guidance.

Later life and honors

Leaving Wisconsin, Stuhldreher joined U.S. Steel in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

in 1950. He died in Pittsburgh of

acute pancreatitis Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a sudden inflammation of the pancreas. Causes in order of frequency include: 1) a gallstone impacted in the common bile duct beyond the point where the pancreatic duct joins it; 2) heavy alcohol use; 3) systemic disea ...

and is buried in

Calvary Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Calvary Catholic Cemetery is located at 718 Hazelwood Avenue in the Greenfield and Hazelwood neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. It was founded in 1886 with the purchase of a 200-acre (80-hectare) tract. The first official interment ...

. Stuhldreher wrote two books, "Quarterback Play" and "Knute Rockne, Man Builder." The latter was a source for the movie '' Knute Rockne, All American'', starring

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

George Gipp George Gipp (February 18, 1895 – December 14, 1920), nicknamed "The Gipper", was a college football player at the University of Notre Dame under head coach Knute Rockne. Gipp was selected as Notre Dame's first Walter Camp All-American, and ...

. Former Notre Dame star Nick Lukats played the part of Stuhldreher in this movie. Stuhldreher's wife Mary was also a writer. The couple had four sons. Stuhldreher was elected to the

in 1958.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stuhldreher, Harry 1901 births 1965 deaths American football quarterbacks Brooklyn Lions players Brooklyn Horsemen players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Villanova Wildcats football coaches Waterbury Blues players Wisconsin Badgers football coaches Wisconsin Badgers athletic directors All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees The Kiski School alumni Sportspeople from Massillon, Ohio Coaches of American football from Ohio Players of American football from Ohio Burials at Calvary Catholic Cemetery (Pittsburgh) Catholics from Ohio American people of German descent