Carl Sheldon Williams

Carl Sheldon “Cap” Williams
Sport(s) Football
Current position
Title Head Coach
Biographical details
Place of birth Wellington, Ohio
Playing career
1891-1892
1893-1895		 Oberlin College
University of Pennsylvania
Position(s) Quarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1902-1907 University of Pennsylvania
Head coaching record
Overall 60-10-4
Statistics
College Football Data Warehouse
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
National Championship: 1904, 1907

Carl Sheldon "Cap" Williams was an American football player and coach. A Wellington, Ohio native, Williams graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1894 with a bachelor of Science and a medical degree in 1897.[1] Williams played both at Oberlin and University of Pennsylvania and coached at the University of Pennsylvania.

Contents

Playing career

Oberlin

He played at Oberlin in 1891 and 1892. The 1891 Yeoman played without a paid coach and went 2-2. The next year Williams was named captain.[2] This team was coached by legendary coach John Heisman. The Yeoman finished the season undefeated including a season opening victory over Ohio State University. Williams scored the first touchdown early in the game which would become a 40-0 route of the Buckeyes.[3] During that season the Yoeman also claimed a second victory over the Buckeyes and a victory over the University of Michigan but both schools dispute this.[2]

University of Pennsylvania

On Heisman’s advise, he transferred to his coach’s former school, the University of Pennsylvania.[4] He lettered three seasons at quarterback for the Red and Blue under renowned coach George Washington Woodruff.[5] At the time Williams played quarterback under Woodruff, the forward pass was illegal. To advance the ball down the field, Woodruff coached his quarterback to “pass the ball with his foot.” The rules at the time were that anybody that kicked the ball or anybody behind the kicker was allowed to recover the ball and retain possession. Williams was able to place his kicks with great accuracy allow Penn to recover for a first down.[6]

1893 Season

In his first year as quarterback, he helped the 1893 Quakers to a 12 – 3 record. The team started strong by winning the first 11 game. In those 11 games the defense only gave up 18 points while the offence scored 305 points. The season collapsed in last four games when Penn lost three out of the last four games to Harvard, Yale and Princeton.[7] At the time Penn rarely beat these three schools. All of the games were close and in losing the game 14-6 to Yale, Penn was able to score a moral victory by scoring. Yale had been un-scored on for 35 straight games stretching from 1890, successively scoring 1,355 unanswered points.[8]

1894 Season

In 1894 Williams helped Penn to its first undefeated season. The 1894 team was retroactively named National Championship by Parke H. Davis though Yale and Princeton was also retroactively named National Championship by other organizations. The highlight of the season was a 12-0 victory over Princeton (only the second in 30 meetings) and an 18-4 victory over Harvard.[9] The 1894 squad featured a very talented backfield that consisted of Williams, Author Knipe (halfback), George Brooke (fullback) and Winchester Osgood (halfback).[10]

1895 Season

Williams was elected captain of the Penn’s 1895 team and was named an All American that year.[11] As captain, he led Penn to another undefeated (14-0) seasons and a second-consecutive retroactive National Title.[11]

Helping Heisman

Other than the two undefeated seasons, Williams may is best known for being instrumental in getting John Heisman back into coaching. Before the 1895 season, Walter Riggs a graduate manager for the Auburn football team wrote to Williams at the asking the University of Pennsylvania captain to suggest a suitable coach. He recommended his former coach at Oberlin who at the time was a tomato farmer in Texas. Auburn hired Heisman who would go on to Hall of Fame career.[12]

Coaching career

In 1902 Williams succeeded his former coach George W. Woodruff at the University of Pennsylvania. When Williams first arrived he had to deal with a team and athletic department recovering from an undergraduate and dental student revolt that led to Coach Woodruff to resign. The students were dissatisfied with the team’s performance in the 1901 season and demanded more undergraduate say in athletic department and coaching. At the time the Athletic Association's Board of Directors was controlled by graduate and professional students.[13] To protest Woodruff resignation all of Penn's graduate coaches resigned. Williams introduced a coaching system in which he served as head coach while being aided by a group of other alumni who served as assistant coaches. This system reduced the damage any one coach or assistant coach had to leave the team.[14] He quickly rebuilt the Quakers and led them to two retroactive national titles in 1904 and 1907. In just his third season as head coach, Williams and Penn posted a 12-0 record and the program’s fourth National Crown. This Quakers squad has a dominating Defense that only allowed 0.3 points a game with Swarthmore the only school to scorn on them that season.[11] The next year Williams led Penn to the second-straight undefeated season posting a 12-0-1 mark. Once again defense dominated with seven shutouts.[15] Penn’s fifth and Williams second (as a coach) retroactive National Title came after an 11-1 campaign in his last year at the helm of the Quakers.[11] He was replaced the season by Sol Metzger for the 1908 season, He finished his coaching career 60-10-4 record.

Coaching record

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs Rank#
University of Pennsylvania Quakers (independent) (1902–1907)
1902 Pennsylvania 9-4
1903 Pennsylvania 9-3
1904 Pennsylvania 12-0
1905 Pennsylvania 12-0-1
1906 Pennsylvania 7-2-3
1907 Pennsylvania 11-1
Pennsylvania: 60-10-4
Total: 60-10-4
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title

Note: Before 1936, national champions were determined by historical research and retroactive ratings and polls.
1907 poll results = Penn: Billingsley and Yale: Helms, National Championship Foundation, Parke H. Davis
1904 poll results = Penn: Helms, National Championship Foundation, Parke H. Davis and Michigan: Billingsley, National Championship Foundation

References

  1. ^ Nat Brandt, "When Oberlin Was King of the Gridiron – The Heisman Years," (Kent State University Press, 2001), p. 185, ISBN 0-87338-684-1.
  2. ^ a b Nat Brandt, p. 177
  3. ^ Nat Brandt, p. 71
  4. ^ Nat Brandt, p. 93
  5. ^ 2006 University of Pennsylvania Football Media Guide, p. 145, accessed 1-18-2007
  6. ^ Allison Danzig, "Oh, How They Played the Game," (The Macmillan Company, 1971), p. 113, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 73-163227
  7. ^ 2006 University of Pennsylvania Football Media Guide, p. 123,
  8. ^ Scott A. McQuilkin and Ronald A. Smith, “The Rise and Fall of the Flying Wedge: Football’s Most Controversial Play” Journal of Sport History, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Spring 1993), accessed 2-4-2007
  9. ^ 2006 University of Pennsylvania Football Media Guide, p. 137
  10. ^ Allison Danzig, p. 114
  11. ^ a b c d 2006 University of Pennsylvania Football Media Guide, p. 15
  12. ^ 2006 Clemson University Football Media Guide, p. 170, accessed 1-18-2007
  13. ^ Nicholas Gutowski, "Penn Football in the 1800s, Varsity team history, Movement Towards Change and Authority Response: 1901, November 12th - 25th," (University of Pennsylvania archives)
  14. ^ Nicholas Gutowski, "Penn Football in the 1800s, Varsity team history, Change: 1901, November 26th - December 3rd," (University of Pennsylvania archives)
  15. ^ 2006 University of Pennsylvania Football Media Guide, p. 120