Clark Daniel Shaughnessy (born Clark Daniel O'Shaughnessy; March 6, 1892 – May 15, 1970) was an American football coach and innovator. He is sometimes called the "father of the T formation" and the original founder of the forward pass, although that system had previously been used as early as the 1880s. Shaughnessy did, however, modernize the obsolescent T formation to make it once again relevant in the sport, particularly for the quarterback and the receiver positions. He employed his innovations most famously on offense, but on the defensive side of the ball as well, and he earned a reputation as a ceaseless experimenter.
Shaughnessy held head coaching positions at Tulane University, Loyola University New Orleans, the University of Chicago, Stanford University, the University of Maryland, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Hawaii, and in the National Football League with the Los Angeles Rams. Shaughnessy also served in advisory capacities with the Chicago Bears and the Washington Redskins.
He reached the height of his success in 1940, in his first season at Stanford, where he led the Indians to an undefeated season that culminated with a Rose Bowl victory. That year, he also helped prepare the Chicago Bears for the 1940 NFL Championship Game, in which they routed Washington, 73–0. Shaughnessy's successes showcased the effectiveness of the T formation and encouraged its widespread adoption. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1968. Shaughnessy also coached college basketball at Tulane University. He played college football at the University of Minnesota.
In 2021, the Professional Football Researchers Association named Shaughnessy to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2021.
Early life and college Shaughnessy was born on March 6, 1892, in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the second son of Lucy Ann (Foster) and Edward Shaughnessy. He attended North St. Paul High School,Gophers Illustrated: The Incredible Complete History of Minnesota Football , p. 32, University of Minnesota Press, 2009, . and prior to college, had no athletic experience.Tulane Coach Had No Athletic Training Before Entering College, Ludington Daily News, March 9, 1926. When he attended the University of Minnesota, however, he played college football under head coach Henry L. Williams and alongside halfback Bernie Bierman. Shaughnessy considered Williams to be football's greatest teacher,, Reading Eagle, June 26, 1931. and Williams considered him to be the best passer from the Midwest.James W. Johnson, The Wow Boys: A Coach, a Team, and a Turning Point in College Football (), p. 16, University of Nebraska Press, 2006, . Shaughnessy handled both the passing and kicking duties for the team.
He played on the freshman squad in 1910 and on the varsity squad from 1911 to 1913, first as an end, then a tackle in 1912, and finally as a fullback in 1913.Chicago's Clark Shaughnessy Named Grid Coach at Stanford, St. Petersburg Times, January 12, 1940. Of the three, Shaughnessy said he preferred the tackle position. In 1912, he recovered three fumbles against Iowa, and Walter Camp named him an alternate on his All-America team. As a senior, Shaughnessy was named to the All-Big Ten Conference first team.Honors and Awards , University of Minnesota, retrieved August 15, 2010.
Shaughnessy played basketball as a guard and ran track in the 440- and 880-yard events. The Minnesota athletic director asked him to join the basketball team before a game against Illinois, despite the fact he had never played and did not know the rules. He joined the track and field team in similar fashion, and replaced a half-mile runner even though he did not own and had never worn track spikes. In The Big Ten: A Century of Excellence, Shaughnessy was called "one of the most versatile athletes in Minnesota's history."Dale Ratermann, The Big Ten: A Century of Excellence, Sagamore Publishing, 1996, . Shaughnessy also competed as a rower with the St. Paul Boat Club. He was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.
Coaching career Tulane After graduation, he remained at his alma mater, Minnesota, for one season as an assistant coach in 1914. Tulane University selected Shaughnessy as head football coach in 1915 over potential candidates Dana X. Bible and Charley Moran, among others. Notre Dame assistant coach Knute Rockne and Ray Morrison were both unable to travel to New Orleans for an interview, and Tulane officials required a face-to-face meeting with the applicants., The Palm Beach Post, December 22, 1940. The school offered Shaughnessy $1,875 ($ adjusted for inflation) to be its football, basketball, and track coach, and athletic director. When he arrived, he found the football field in a state of disrepair and the equipment to be woefully inadequate. Because the athletic department was in dire financial straits, Shaughnessy paid to purchase new equipment for the team. With only one opponent scheduled in the upcoming season, he wrote letters to sixty schools to secure additional games.
Shaughnessy introduced to Tulane the Minnesota shift, an innovation created by his former coach Henry L. Williams., The Palm Beach Post, December 17, 1939. By 1919, Shaughnessy had transformed Tulane into a competitor amongst Southern collegiate teams.Leonard Victor Huber, New Orleans: A Pictorial History, p. 258, Pelican Publishing, 1991, . That season, he guided them to a then school record of seven consecutive wins.Tulane Football History , Tulane University, retrieved August 15, 2010. In 1920, Germany Schulz was hired to take over duties as athletic director,"GERMAN" SCHULZ NAMED DIRECTOR TULANE SPORTS , The Atlanta Constitution, July 25, 1920. and he also aided Shaughnessy as the line coach from 1923 to 1925., The Owosso Argus-Press, November 25, 1929.
In 1923, Shaughnessy hired his former teammate Bernie Bierman as an assistant coach. Bierman remained on the staff for three seasons before he left to become head coach at Mississippi A&M. In 1924, Tulane set a new school record for wins and finished with an 8–1 record. The following season, the Green Wave bested the prior year's mark and posted a 9–0–1 record. School officials declined an invitation to face Washington in the Rose Bowl,, The Evening Independent, p. 30, December 4, 1925. because they believed the Tulane players were too small.James W. Johnson, p. 17. Indiana University attempted to hire Shaughnessy after his undefeated season,INDIANA AFTER SHAUGHNESSY , The Christian Science Monitor, January 23, 1926. but he instead chose to sign a ten-year extension with Tulane.Tulane Keeps Coach Shaughnessy , The New York Times, February 11, 1926.
In a 1926 article written for the NEA News Service, he responded to those who asked him how the "Shaughnessy System" worked so well. He said, "If there is a 'Shaughnessy system' at Tulane, if it has any 'secret,' two words tell the whole story—common sense. All that I have done at Tulane is take the material I found and train it in plays built around the individual abilities of each man."C. D. Shaughnessy, , The Evening Independent, November 10, 1926.
Despite optimistic preseason predictions,, Sarasota Herald, September 4, 1926. Tulane suffered its first and only losing season of Shaughnessy's tenure in 1926. He was considered for the head job at Northwestern in February 1927 after Clarence Spears turned it down.Spears Refuses N. U. Offer; Will Stay with Minnesota , The Chicago Tribune, February 2, 1927. Shaughnessy later received similar offers from Louisiana State and Wisconsin.James W. Johnson, p. 18. On April 8, 1927, he tendered his resignation without a publicly stated reason and was subsequently released from his contract.Shaughnessy Resigns , The Christian Science Monitor, April 9, 1927. Tulane replaced him with former assistant Bernie Bierman. The Milwaukee Journal credited Shaughnessy with building a formidable team at Tulane, and noted that he increased revenue and improved facilities, while he used the available players and did not pay them "a nickel". At the end of his tenure, Shaughnessy held a record of 59–28–7, and as of 2010, he continues to hold the record for the most wins of any Tulane football coach."All-Time Coaches", 2006 Tulane Football Media Guide, p. 170, Tulane University, 2006. He also coached the basketball team for three seasons between 1915 and 1918 and amassed a 27–15 record., Sports Reference, retrieved August 16, 2010.
Loyola In June 1927, nearby Loyola of the South hired Shaughnessy as its head football coach.Shaughnessy Signs To Coach at Loyola , The Atlanta Constitution, June 12, 1927. According to The Wow Boys: A Coach, a Team, and a Turning Point in College Football, a New Orleans millionaire offered him $175,000 to coach Loyola for ten years ($ adjusted for inflation). This made him one of the highest paid football coaches in the nation at the time., The Milwaukee Journal, December 21, 1934.
In 1928, Loyola traveled to South Bend, Indiana, to play Notre Dame in its season opener. The Wolves took a 6–0 halftime lead before they eventually fell, 12–6. After the game, Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne reportedly said, "Never get me another 'warm-up game' against a team coached by that guy." The following year, Rockne was asked to name the best football coach and responded, "Modesty forbids ... But if I can name the two best football coaches in America, one of them is going to be Clark Shaughnessy."
At Loyola, Shaughnessy retained his emphasis on the forward pass. In 1930, the Wolves beat larger but unprepared Iowa State and Detroit teams in consecutive weeks with the same passing play., Reading Eagle, October, 1931. During his tenure, he was called "the greatest one man coaching staff in football.", St. Petersburg Times, February 9, 1933. He also brought to Loyola his modified version of the Minnesota shift, which he claimed no opponent had been able to completely counteract. In 1931, California considered Shaughnessy as a candidate for its head coaching job.Clark Shaughnessy May Be California Coach; Formerly Starred at Minnesota, Coached at Tulane for Many Years, The Milwaukee Journal, January 4, 1931. Despite opportunities to coach elsewhere, Shaughnessy remained in New Orleans because he liked the city and it was his wife's hometown. He compiled a 38–16–6 record at Loyola from 1927 to 1932.
Chicago After the 1932 season, University of Chicago president Dr. Robert Maynard Hutchins forced out 70-year-old head coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, whom he considered too old for the position. Stagg then moved on to coach at the College of the Pacific.Jeff Davis, Papa Bear , p. 135, McGraw-Hill Professional, 2006, . Athletic director T. Nelson Metcalf hired Shaughnessy to replace Stagg as head coach in 1933. Shaughnessy inherited a difficult situation at Chicago, and for the most part, lacked good material.Robin Lester, Stagg's University: The Rise, Decline, and Fall of Big-Time Football at Chicago,, University of Illinois Press, 1999, . He did, however, inherit from Stagg at least one important recruit: inaugural Heisman Trophy winner and future Hall of Fame back Jay Berwanger, whom many Midwest pundits considered the best back of the 1930s.NEA Staff, , The Register-Guard, p. 16, December 22, 1940.