Clark Shaughnessy

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Clark Shaughnessy
Date of birth March 6, 1892
Place of birth St. Cloud, Minnesota
Date of death May 15, 1970
Position(s) Head Coach
College Minnesota
Career Record 14-7-3
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1948-1949 Los Angeles Rams


Clark Daniel Shaughnessy (March 6, 1892–May 15, 1970) was an American Football coach. He was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the second son of Edward and Lucy Shaughnessy.

After playing as a fullback at the University of Minnesota, Shaughnessy coached at Tulane University and Loyola of the South between 1915 and 1932. From 1933 to 1939 Shaughnessy coached at the University of Chicago. While there, he developed a friendship with Chicago Bears owner and coach George Halas, helping him to implement Shaughnessy's version of the T-formation offense.

The T-formation was decades old, but Shaughnessy adapted it to make the quarterback the focus of the offense. This helped to make the passing game a more important part of play, and his success spawned immitators. Within a few years, most other teams had abandoned the single wing offense for the T-formation. Shaughnessy's innovations revolutionized the game of football at both the professional and collegiate level.

Playing Shaughnessy's offense, the Bears became a powerhouse, winning four NFL Championships between 1940 and 1946.

After the University of Chicago dropped its football program, Shaughnessy coached Stanford University for two seasons, winning the Rose Bowl in 1941. He had two stints as head coach at the University of Maryland and another at the University of Pittsburgh.

In 1948, he surprised many observers by leaving the college ranks to coach the Los Angeles Rams. Shaughnessy posted a 6-5-1 record in his first season, with Bob Waterfield as his quarterback. During the 1949 season, Shaughnessy innovated again, making Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch into a permanent flanker, leaving only two backs in the backfield. This was the first "Pro Set" offense used consistently. With Waterfield and rookie Norm Van Brocklin at QB, the Rams posted a 8-2-2 record and won their division. Tom Fears set a new NFL record for receptions in a season with 77. Despite this success, the 1949 Rams lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL Championship game during a rainstorm. Shaughnessy was fired at the end of the season because of friction with owner Dan Reeves. The Shaughnessy offense, led by Waterfield and Van Brocklin, featuring Fears and Hirsch, but coached by Joe Stydahar, won the Western Conference in 1950 and 1951 and the NFL title in 1951, shattering NFL offensive records along the way.

Shaughnessy rejoined Halas in Chicago in 1951, serving for 11 years as a technical adviser and vice president of the Bears. While there, he developed revolutionary defensive strategies, using shifts, stunts, and a variety of alignments to create an attacking defense.

Shaughnessy returned to coaching for one season, serving as head coach at the University of Hawaii in 1965. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1968.

After his retirement, Shaughnessy lived in Santa Monica, California. He died there after a brief illness at the age of 78.

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Preceded by:
Edwin Sweetland		 Tulane University Head Football Coaches
1915-1920		 Succeeded by:
Myron Fuller
Preceded by:
Myron Fuller		 Tulane University Head Football Coaches
1922-1926		 Succeeded by:
Bernie Bierman
Preceded by:
Frank Dobson		 University of Maryland Head Football Coaches
1942		 Succeeded by:
Clarence Spears
Preceded by:
Chuck Bowser		 University of Pittsburgh Head Football Coaches
1943-1945		 Succeeded by:
Wes Fesler
Preceded by:
Bear Bryant		 University of Maryland Head Football Coaches
1946		 Succeeded by:
Jim Tatum
Preceded by:
Bob Snyder		 Los Angeles Rams Head Coaches
1950–1952		 Succeeded by:
Joe Stydahar


Tulane Green Wave Head Football Coaches
Bayne • Sweet • Bayne • Baum • Lombard • Collier • Summersgill • Dabney • Eshleman • Berry • Tobin • Russ • Curtis • Brown • Mason • Hoffman • Sweetland • Shaughnessy • Fuller • Shaughnessy • Bierman • Cox • Dawson • Simons • Frnka • Wolf • Pilney • O'Boyle • Pittman • Ellender • Smith • Gibson • English • Brown • Davis • Teevens • Bowden • Scelfo • Toledo
Chicago Maroons Head Football Coaches
Stagg • Shaughnessy • Hass • Lombardi • Kurucz • Larsen • Ewing • Parrinello • Quick • Maloney
Stanford Cardinal Head Football Coaches
Camp • Bliss • Camp • Cross • Brooke • Cross • Chamberlain • Yost • Fickert • Clemans • Lanagan • Presley • Brown • Wylie • Evans • Powell • Van Gent • Kerr • Warner • Thornhill • Shaughnessy • Schwarz • Taylor • Curtice • Ralston • Christiansen • Walsh • Dowhower • Wiggin • Elway • Green • Walsh • Willingham • Teevens • Harris
Maryland Terrapins Head Football Coaches
Skinner • Harding • Bannon • Lewis • Kenly • Cooke • Peters • Dunbar • Markey • Nielsen • Melick • Lang • Larkin • Alston • Donnelly • Byrd • Faber • Dobson • Shaughnessy • Spears • Bryant • Tatum • Mont • Nugent • Saban • Ward • Lester • Claiborne • Ross • Krivak • Duffner • Vanderlinden • Friedgen
Hawaii Warriors Head Football Coaches
A. Jones • Peden • Britton • Crawford • Elliot • Klum • Gill • Kaulukukui • Kodros • Vasconcellos • Asato • Shaughnessy • Sarboe • King • Holmes • Price • Tomey • Wagner • von Appen • J. Jones
Pitt Panthers Head Football Coaches
Harrold • Linn • Hoskins • Trenchard • Robinson • Jackson • Hockensmith • Crolius • Mosse • Wingard • Moorhead • Thompson • Duff • Warner • Sutherland • Bowser • Shaughnessy • Fesler • Milligan • Casanova • Hamilton • Dawson • Michelosen • Hart • DePasqua • Majors • Sherrill • Fazio • Gottfried • Hackett • Sunseri • Harris • Wannstedt
Cleveland/L.A./St. Louis Rams Head Coaches
Bezdek • Lewis • Clark • Donelli • Walsh • Snyder • Shaughnessy • Stydahar • Pool • Gillman • Waterfield • Svare • Allen • Prothro • Knox • Malavasi • Robinson • Knox • Brooks • Vermeil • Martz • Vitt • Linehan
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