Claude Earl "Tiny" Thornhill (April 14, 1893 – June 30, 1956) was an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player at

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

and the head football coach at Stanford from 1933 to 1939.

Playing career

Tiny Thornhill played college football at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

under legendary coach Glenn "Pop" Warner. An All-American guard and tackle, Thornhill was given the ironic nickname "Tiny" due to his imposing size. Following his graduation from Pitt, Tiny became an assistant coach to Pop Warner but left midway through the season to play pro football with the Massillon Tigers, with teammates that included Knute Rockne, Jock Sutherland, Gus Dorais, Bob Higgins, and Bob Peck. He also played in the first-ever

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

season in 1920 for the Cleveland Tigers and Buffalo All-Americans.

Coaching career

After leaving pro football, Thornhill returned to Pitt as an assistant coach to Warner. In 1922, Warner accepted the head coaching position at Stanford, but as he had two years to finish his contract at Pitt, sent Thornhill and Andrew Kerr ahead to coach Stanford in preparation of his arrival in 1924. Thornhill served as offensive line coach under Warner until 1933, when Warner left Stanford to take the head coaching job at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

and Thornhill was named head coach. In his first three years, members of the class of 1936—nicknamed the Vow Boys due to their promise never to lose to USC—played in the

Rose Bowl Game The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, traditionally played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl (stadium), Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on ...

each season. Thornhill was the first Stanford coach to lead his team to postseason play in his first three seasons, a feat not matched until David Shaw's 2011 to 2013 teams. Stanford lost the first two Rose Bowl appearances, but won the 1936 Rose Bowl over SMU, 7–0. After the first three seasons, Thornhill's teams went steadily downhill, culminating in a 1–7–1 season in 1939, after which Thornhill was fired and replaced by Clark Shaughnessy. Thornhill died in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

in 1956 of a heart ailment. He was buried in Golden Gate National Cemetery. He was inducted into the Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame in 1978.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thornhill, Claude E. 1893 births 1956 deaths American football guards American football tackles Buffalo All-Americans players Burials at Golden Gate National Cemetery Centre Colonels football coaches Cleveland Tigers (NFL) players Coaches of American football from Virginia Massillon Tigers players Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football players Players of American football from Richmond, Virginia Stanford Cardinal football coaches