Francis Schmidt

Francis Schmidt
Sport(s)	Football, basketball, baseball
Biographical details
Born	December 3, 1885(1885-12-03) Downs, Kansas
Died	September 19, 1944(1944-09-19) (aged 58) Seattle, Washington
Playing career
1905	Nebraska
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football 1915–1916 1919–1921 1922–1928 1929–1933 1934–1940 1941–1942 Basketball 1915–1917 1918–1922 1923–1929 1929–1934 Baseball 1923–1929	Tulsa (assistant) Tulsa Arkansas TCU Ohio State Idaho Tulsa Tulsa Arkansas TCU Arkansas
Head coaching record
Overall	156–58–11 (football) 258–72 (basketball) 38–64 (baseball)
Statistics College Football Data Warehouse
Accomplishments and honors
Championships 2 Oklahoma Intercollegiate (1919–1920) 2 SWC (1929, 1932) 2 Big Ten (1935, 1939)
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1971 (profile)

Francis Albert Schmidt (December 3, 1885 – September 19, 1944) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at the University of Tulsa (1919–1921), the University of Arkansas (1922–1928), Texas Christian University (1929–1933), Ohio State University (1934–1940), and the University of Idaho (1941–1942), compiling a career record of 156–58–11. Schmidt's teams were known for trick plays involving multiple laterals and non-standard tackle-eligible, and even guard-eligible, formations. The press labeled Schmidt's approach as the "razzle-dazzle offense." Because Schmidt's teams were known for high scoring, the media nicknamed him Francis "Close the Gates of Mercy" Schmidt. Schmidt was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1971. Schmidt also served as the head basketball coach at Tulsa (1915–1917, 1918–1922), Arkansas (1923–1929), and Texas Christian (1929–1934), compiling a career record of 258–72, and the head baseball coach at Arkansas (1923–1929), tallying a mark of 38–64.

Playing career and education

Schmidt was born in Downs, Kansas, and played college football at the University of Nebraska. He earned a varsity letter with the Nebraska Cornhuskers in 1905 and received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Law a few years later.

Coaching career

From 1915 through 1916, Schmidt joined the football coaching staff as an assistant at the University of Tulsa. World War I, however, interrupted Schmidt's coaching career. He served in the United States Army and rose to the rank of captain. Schmidt was hired as the Tulsa head football coach in 1919. In his first season, Tulsa finished with a record of 8–0–1 and outscored its opponents 592–27. Schmidt's record at Tulsa was 24–3–2 in three seasons. Schmidt had defeated Arkansas by a score of 63–7 in 1919, and the Razorbacks hired Schmidt away from Tulsa in 1922. In seven years at Arkansas (1922–1928), his record was 41–21–3. While at Arkansas, he was also the coach of the basketball and baseball teams, as it was not uncommon during that time for coaches at major universities to coach more than one sport.

Schmidt's most memorable years, however, were at Texas Christian and Ohio State. In five years at TCU (1929–1933), Schmidt won two Southwest Conference championships and had a record of 47–6–5. In seven years at Ohio State (1934–1940), Schmidt won two Big Ten Conference championships and had a record of 39–16–1.

Schmidt's most notable contribution to popular culture came in his first year at Ohio State. The Columbus press asked Schmidt about the team's chances of beating rival Michigan. Schmidt replied, "Those fellows put their pants on one leg at a time, the same as everyone else." This phrase had previously been a Texas regionalism, but because of the press attention given to Schmidt, it soon became an internationally known cliché. Ohio State beat Michigan the first four years Schmidt coached there. Since that time, any Ohio State player that defeats Michigan is awarded a "Gold Pants Charm", a gold lapel pin shaped like football pants.

Schmidt finished his football coaching career with a two-year stint at Idaho (1941–1942), then a member of the Pacific Coast Conference. His record there was 7–12.

Football Head coaching record

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	AP#
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference) (1919–1921)
1919	Tulsa	8–0–1		1st
1920	Tulsa	10–0–1		1st
1921	Tulsa	6–3
Tulsa:		24–3–2
Arkansas Razorbacks (Southwest Conference) (1922–1928)
1922	Arkansas	4–5	1–3	6th
1923	Arkansas	6–2–1	2–2	T–4th
1924	Arkansas	7–2–1	1–2–1	7th
1925	Arkansas	4–4–1	0–2–1	6th
1926	Arkansas	5–5	0–1	6th
1927	Arkansas	8–1	2–1	3rd
1928	Arkansas	7–2	2–1	2nd
Arkansas:		41–21–3	8–12–2
TCU Horned Frogs (Southwest Conference) (1929–1933)
1929	TCU	9–0–1	4–0–1	1st
1930	TCU	9–2–1	4–2	3rd
1931	TCU	8–2–1	4–1–1	2nd
1932	TCU	10–0–1	6–0	1st
1933	TCU	9–2–1	4–2	T–2nd
TCU:		45–6–5	22–5–2
Ohio State Buckeyes (Big Ten Conference) (1934–1940)
1934	Ohio State	7–1	5–1	2nd
1935	Ohio State	7–1	5–0	T–1st
1936	Ohio State	5–3	4–1	T–2nd
1937	Ohio State	6–2	5–1	2nd		13
1938	Ohio State	4–3–1	2–3–1	6th
1939	Ohio State	6–2	5–1	1st		15
1940	Ohio State	4–4	3–3	T–4th
Ohio State:		39–16–1	30–9–1
Idaho Vandals (Pacific Coast Conference) (1941–1942)
1941	Idaho	4–5	0–4	10th
1942	Idaho	3–7	1–5	9th
Idaho:		7–12	1–9
Total:		156–58–11
National championship         Conference title         Conference division title
#Rankings from final AP Poll.

External links

• Francis Schmidt at the College Football Hall of Fame
• Francis Schmidt at the College Football Data Warehouse
• Francis Schmidt at College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com