Sam Francis (football player)

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Sam Francis
Date of birth:	October 26, 1913(1913-10-26)
Place of birth:	Dunbar, Nebraska, United States
Date of death:	April 23, 2002 (aged 88)
Place of death:	Springfield, MO
Career information
Position(s):	Halfback
College:	Nebraska
NFL Draft:	1937 / Round: 1/ Pick 1
Organizations
As player:
1937-1938 1939 1939-1940	Chicago Bears Pittsburgh Pirates Brooklyn Dodgers
Stats at DatabaseFootball.com
College Football Hall of Fame

Harrison F. "Sam" Francis (October 26, 1913 - April 23, 2002) was an American football player in the National Football League. He played college football at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where, in 1936, he was the first runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.^[1] He was the first overall selection in the 1937 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. He played in the NFL for four years with the Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Brooklyn Dodgers before leaving to serve in the Army during World War II. Francis was also an exceptional athlete in track and field and placed fourth in the shot put at the 1936 Summer Olympics.^[2]

[edit] Coaching career

Francis was the 21st head football coach for the Kansas State Wildcats in Manhattan, Kansas and he held that position for the 1947 season. His overall coaching record at Kansas State was 0 wins, 10 losses, and 0 ties. This ranks him 30th at Kansas State in terms of total wins and 31st at Kansas State in terms of winning percentage. ^[3]

Although in recent years Kansas State Football has experienced success, for many years it was considered a failure as a college football program. This gives Francis the dubious distinction of being the coach with the worst record at possibly the worst football school of all time, until the advent of the Bill Snyder era at Kansas State. Francis was the only coach to lose every game that he coached. Kansas State coach Ira Pratt did not win any games during his one season as coach, but did successfully tie and end up 0-1-1.^[4]

For his one and only season as a head coach, he was outscored 283 points to 71, and had three games where Kansas State team was held to no score. The closest game a loss by 2 points against University of New Mexico at home and the most lopsided defeat was 0-55 against longtime rival University of Kansas.^[5]

[edit] References