The Chicago Maroons
College Football’s Forgotten Dynasty
Like many institutions that fielded teams in football’s formative years, only to drop the sport or move to lesser divisions, the story of Chicago Maroons is virtually forgotten. It seems a shame that the storied past of the Chicago Maroons has fallen through the cracks of history. It should not be that way. The tradition of the Chicago Maroons deserves to be remembered, both for the powerfull teams that wore maroon, and for the influence that Chicago had, and continues to have, over the game. So important were their contributions, that if we removed the influences of the mighty Maroons from football, we would hardly recognize the game. |
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Amos Alonzo Stagg was one of the great innovators who developed football into the game we know today. He brought motion and creativity to the game |
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The driving force behind the Chicago Maroon’s was Amos Alonzo Stagg. He was hired to build a program when the University of Chicago was founded in 1892. He coached the Maroons until 1932. Stagg was one of the great innovators who developed football into the game we know today. He brought motion and creativity to the game. Among his many contributions were: the backfield shift, the end-around, man-in-motion, fake punt, quick-kick, double reverse, Statue of Liberty play, as well as padded goal post, and numbers on uniforms.
Starting from scratch, Stagg built the Chicago program into one of the most powerful teams in the nation. He established Chicago as a football power early, when the game was just taking root in the west. His influence, and the success of his teams, helped to build the credibility of western football. The Chicago Maroons produced seven conference champions and one national champion. The Maroons sent seven players to the Hall of Fame: Paul Des Jardien, Bob Maxwell, Clarence Herschberger, Walter Steffen, Andy Wyant, Walter Eckersall and Jay Berwanger. |
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The legacy of the Chicago Maroons is an integral part of college football’s ongoing tradition. Chicago was a charter member of Western Conference (Big Ten). Chicago football is linked with two of college footballs most coveted awards. Jay Berwanger won the first Heisman Trophy in 1935. The Maxwell Trophy is named in memory of Bob Maxwell, who played one year at Chicago, before transferring to Swarthmore College.
The Chicago influence spread to other teams as former players entered the coaching ranks. They helped to build the the power structure of college football, and introduced their own innovative contributions to the games evolution. Three of Stagg’s protégés would join him in the Hall of Fame. Hugo Bezdek took three teams to the Rose Bowl, and solidified Penn State as a power in the east. Fritz Crisler had great success at Michigan and was a longtime member of the rules committee. Crisler is considered the father of two platoon football. Jesse Harper led Notre Dame to national prominence. Under Harper, Notre Dame stunned the nation in 1913, by upsetting Army with a passing attack that kept the cadets off balance, and immortalized Gus Dorais and Knute Rockne.
Chicago’s influence would be felt by many teams but especially at Notre Dame. As a former Chicago quarterback, Harper brought a thorough understanding of Stagg’s shifting offense to Notre Dame. Harper also recognized the genius of Knute Rockne and kept him on as his assistant coach. Together, Harper and Rockne developed a shifting offense that would come to be known as the Notre Dame Shift. After Harper resigned, Knute Rockne replaced him. Notre Dame became the biggest draw in football, dazzling audiences across the nation. Rockne would go on to be the most famous football coach in America. He acknowledged the influence of the Chicago Maroons, and their legendary leader. Rockne said “All football comes from Stagg.”
Rockne may have been influenced by Stagg, but he was inspired by Walter Eckersall. Of all of the Chicago players, the greatest might have been Eckersall. Walter Eckersall made a name for himself in high school, when he led Hyde Park, the western high school champions against Brooklyn Prep, the champions of the east. Eckersall guided his team like a smooth machine, defeating the eastern champions 105 - 0. Sitting spellbound in the stands was a young Knute Rockne. Rockne would latter site Eckersall's performance as: “the first time I learned a football was something to think with, and not merely something to kick.” By watching Eckersall, Rockne could see the creative possibilities of the sport. Notre Dame’s great leader would credit Eckersall for inspiring him to devote himself to the sport of football.
During their time as a division one program, the Maroon's only had two coaches, Amos Alonzo Stagg and Clark Shaughnessy. Both men are in the Hall of Fame. Amos Alonzo Stagg survived attempts to force him out at Chicago until 1932, when at the age of 70, he was force into mandatory retirement. Stagg left Chicago, but he did not retire. He coached at the College of Pacific from 1933 - 1946. He earned national coach of the year honors in 1943, at the age of 81. ‘The Grand Old Man of the Midway’ remained active as an assistant coach until 1958. Stagg was a charter member of the College Football Hall of Fame. He is the only member inducted as both a player and a coach. The difficult task of replacing Amos Alonzo Stagg would go to Clark Shaughnessy.
Shaughnessy eventually would follow Stagg into the Hall of Fame, but he would have to wait for success. At Chicago the opposition Shaughnessy would face on the field would be mild compared to the opposition put up by his own administration. The president of the University of Chicago was Robert Hutchins, one of football’s most outspoken critics. As part of Hutchins’ assault on football, Shaunghessy was not allowed to recruit players, and the university did not sanction a Physical Education major, a major handicap competing in the Big Ten. |
In public statements and articles, Hutchins attacked the business of intercollegiate football. He mocked the idea of football heroes as roll models in a country that needed brains more than brawn. In the December 12,1938 issue of the Saturday Evening Post, Robert Hutchins wrote:
“The football season is about to release the nation’s colleges to the pursuit of education, more or less. Soon the last nickel will be rung up at the gate, the last halfback will receive his check, and the last alumnus will pay off those bets that he can recall. ”
By 1939, Chicago football had fallen on hard times. Not so much fallen as it was pushed by Hutchins, Chicago’s record was 2-6. The situation was even worse than the numbers indicate. The two wins were over Wabash and Oberlin. The Maroons were outscored 308 - 37, including lopsided losses to Ohio Sates 61 - 0, and Michigan 85 - 0. Chicago had not won a conference game since 1936. Support for the Maroons had eroded away. Their 1939 game against Ohio State only drew 1,400 paid attendance. On December 21, 1939, while the students were on Christmas break, the trustees of the university, led by Hutchins, abolished intercollegiate football at Chicago. |
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Robert Hutchins, the president of the University of Chicago, was one of football’s most outspoken critics.
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The decision of the trustees did not take into consideration the opinions of the student body. It was already known how they felt about the idea. Rumors had swirled that Chicago might give up football, so the monthly student magazine Pulse had taken a poll of the undergraduates to determine how they felt. Of the students surveyed, 11 out of 12 wanted intercollegiate football to continue at the University of Chicago. Emil Hirsch, editor of Pulse, noted: “this action has been taken with complete disregard of student opinion.” Bob Jampolis, quarterback of the football team said: “I don’t think we ought to take this lying down. Neither do I think the action should have been taken while the student body was away.”
Hutchins received support from some of his peers, but reaction to the news was mostly negative. Arch Ward of the Chicago Tribune published a list of names of some of Chicago’s greatest players, then asked: “. . . Can you imagine those men quitting when things were breaking badly? . . . They belonged to an era when men were men and the University of Chicago wasn’t afraid of competition.” Former Chicago coach Amos Alonzo Stagg was shocked and saddened by the move. When asked if he was sorry he left Chicago, Stagg said: “I never have been happy about leaving Chicago and even have shed tears. I’m foolish enough to believe the action wouldn’t have happened had I been there.”
For Clark Shaughnessy, the end of football at Chicago marked the close of a difficult chapter in his coaching career. His record at Chicago had been a disappointing, 17 - 34 - 4. In an ironic twist, Shaughnessy’s previous employer, Loyola of New Orleans, dropped football on Dec. 19, 1939, just two days before Chicago.
Shaughnessy did not have to wait long for a chance to redeem himself. He was hired to turn around a struggling program at Stanford. It was there that he would become known as the father of the modern T-Formation. In his first year there, Stanford went 10 - 0, including a win over Nebraska in the Rose Bowl. Clark Shaughnessy won coach of the year honors, and his modernized version of the T-Formation would go on to be the dominant offense in football.
Chicago did not participate in intercollegiate football again until 1969. The man who led the way for football’s return to the midway was Walter Hass. In 1956, Hass was appointed director of athletics. Hass had been a football coach, and he initiated a football class as part of the curriculum. Out of that class grew a club team that by 1960 was competing with other teams in the area. Hass lobbied for the reinstatement of football at Chicago. The student body lent its support to the effort, submitting a petition in favor of varsity football. Unlike 1939, this time the students were listened to and varsity football was reinstated.
The Chicago Maroons now compete at the Division III level. Appropriately as a Division III school, the Maroons compete for the right to play in the annual Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl. Chicago is the only team to win a national championship that does not now compete in division I-A or the Ivy League.
After the University of Chicago dropped football in 1939, a different use was found for the football stadium. As part of the Manhattan Project, during World War II, the halls beneath the stadium became the sight of the first nuclear reaction. Today Chicago Stadium is remembered as the birthplace of the atomic bomb. After it became known just how devastating the atomic bomb could be, J Robert Oppenheimer, director of the atomic bomb project at Los Alamos, New Mexico would later reflect: “I wish Chicago had never given up football” When college football fans look at the great tradition that was lost, they can agree with Oppenheimer. |
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