Frank Crawford

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Frank Crawford was a college football coach at Michigan, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Texas. In 1891, he (with Mike Murphy) coached the Michigan team to a 4-5 record; this was the first year the Michigan team had coaches. In 1892, he coached at Wisconsin, and compiled a 4-3 record. He was a graduate of Yale, and is rumored to have attended Michigan State.

[edit] At Nebraska

He coached at Nebraska from 1893 to 1894, serving as the school's first head football coach. As the head coach, he compiled a 10-4-1 record. In 1893, after losing consecutive games to Kansas and Missouri, his team was 2-1-2. The next game was against the powerhouse Iowa team. One of the most memorable moments, was when the coach himself was the starting half-back. He scored three rushing touchdowns that game, as Nebraska upset Iowa 20-18.

His 1894 team saw more of the same. After starting the season 2-2, the team won five consecutive games to finish the season 7-2. This included a 36-0 wacking of Iowa, to earn the schools first ever conference championship. Following the 1894 season, he moved on to Texas.

[edit] At Texas

Texas had just came off its first loss in school history, an 0-28 home loss to Missouri, when it fired its previous head coach. After months of searching, they finally landed Crawford. As a coach, he stressed physical conditioning, and brought forth the Yale style of play. The school played just five games that season, but went 5-0 and outscored their opponents by a combined 96-0 margin. Texas's all-time football record moved to 15-1.

[edit] External link

• Frank Crawford and Mike Murphy at Michigan, from the Bentley Historical Library