COLLEGE FOOTBALL 1920-1940

1. COLLEGE FOOTBALL 1920-1940

2. SUMMARY • PROFESSIONALIZATION OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL • PROFESSIONAL HEAD COACHES • KNUTE ROCKNE ERA-LEGEND • CRISIS OF BIG-TIME COLLEGE FOOTBALL • CARNEGIE REPORT

3. PROFESSIONALIZATION OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL, 1920s • 1914 YALE BOWL, 70,000 SEATING CAPACITY. 1924 STAGG STADIUM EXPANDED TO ACCOMMODATE 60,000 • “MEMORIAL STADIUMS” FOR 63,000 OR MORE. 1930=SEVEN STADIUMS FOR 70,000 OR MORE. • LARGE PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES, INVESTMENTS FOR STADIUMS OF 30,000 SEATS OR MORE • FOOTBALL, LARGEST BUILDING STRUCTURE IN CAMPUSES

4. PROFESSIONALIZATION • OCT 18, 1924 INAUGURATION OF MEMORIAL STADIUM, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, 67,000 SEATS HONORING FALLEN ILLINI IN WWI. • HAROLD “RED” GRANGE, “CAREER DAY” FOUR TDs IN FIRST QUARTER. • ENORMOUS MEDIA ATTENTION • OPPOSITION HYPE: FOOTBALL STARS vs BASEBALL STARS • AMATEUR, STUDENTS, NO TOBACCO, ALCOHOL

5. PROFESSIONALIZATION • FOOTBALL RADIO BROADCASTING BOOM • REGIONAL, LOCAL, RELIGIOUS IDENTITIES REFLECTED • NATIONAL COVERAGE OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL • COLLEGE FOOTBALL= LOCAL PRIDE MIRROR

6. PROFESSIONAL HEAD COACH • LARGE NUMBER OF ASSISTANTS TO TRAIN ATHLETES ON SPECIALIZED SKILLS (RUNNING BACKS, QBs, LINEMEN, ETC) • OFF SEASON RECRUITING PROGRAMS • OFF SEASON FITNESS PROGRAMS, SPRING PRACTICES • NETWORK OF SCOUTS-BOOSTERS TO IDENTIFY TALENT • NETWORK OF SPIES ON OPPONENTS

7. PROFESSIONAL HEAD COACH • FOOTBALL SEASON, FULL YEAR COMPETITION, STRATEGY, ORGANIZED EFFORT TO MAXIMIZE STRENGTHS AND NEUTRALIZE COMPETITORS • HEAD COACHES, MODELED AFTER BUSINESS EXECUTIVES. • HEAD COACHES, HIGHEST PAID EMPLOYEES IN UNIVERSITIES • YOST (UNIV.MICHIGAN), WARNER (PITTSBURGH), HEISMAN (GEORGIA TECH) STAGG (CHICAGO) DANA BIBLE (TEXAS)

8. PROFESSIONALIZATION • POP WARNER • CARLISLE INDIANS, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH, STANFORD UNIVERSITY • INNOVATIONS: BLOCKING DUMMIES FOR PRACTICE, PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (SHOULDER PADS, HELMETS, ETC). • STRATEGY: SCREEN PASS. • MARKETING: NUMBERS ON THE BACK OF THE JERSEYS, SO SPECTATORS COULD IDENTIFY PLAYERS; 1929 YOUTH PROGRAM

9. KNUTE ROCKNE • BORN IN NORWAY, 5-YEAR-OLD IMMIGRANT. • 1910 NOTRE DAME CHEMISTRY STUDENT, FOOTBALL&TRACK • 1913 WITH A PASSING-BASED OFFENSIVE ND BEAT ARMY 35-13; NEW YORK TIMES: “ND OPEN PLAY AMAZES ARMY” • NOTRE DAME PROGRAM WAS INSTANTLY CREDITED WITH THE POPULARIZATION OF PASSING OFFENSIVE FOOTBALL. • ROCKNE’S REPUTATION REACHED CELEBRITY STATUS.

10. KNUTE ROCKNE AND NOTRE DAME • MARKETING: PREGAME CALISTHENICS COREOGRAPHED • STRATEGY: BOX BACKFIELD FORMATION, ETC. • NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL, PRODUCT FOR THE MARKET • ALUMNI, CATHOLIC INSTITUTIONS, CATHOLIC CHURCHES, NATIONAL FAN BASE • SUBWAY ALUMNI (NON STUDENT FANS)

11. ROCKNE AND NOTRE DAME • GRADUATED, BECAME ASSISTANT COACH. • PLAYED SEMI PRO FOOTBALL, TAUGHT CHEMISTRY LAB. • 1918 HEAD COACH NOTRE DAME • RECRUITING SYSTEM BASED ON MIDWESTERN CATHOLIC CHURCHES AND HIGH SCHOOLS

12. ROCKNE LEGEND • NOTRE DAME NATIONAL REPUTATION • PUBLIC SPEAKER, MEDIA HEAD COACH • INVENTOR OF THE FORWARD PASS • FOUR HORSEMEN REPUTATION • “WIN ONE FOR THE GIPPER” (PEP TALK IN THE 1928 GAME vs. ARMY) • GEORGE GIPP STORY, 1919 SEASON, DIED INFLUENZA IN 1920.

13. ROCKNE LEGEND • 1930 SIGNED A $75,000 IN A MOTION PICTURE CONTRACT WITH UNIVERSAL PICTURES. • 1931 AIR TRIP TO THE WEST COAST, CRASHED IN WESTERN KANSAS; DIED AT 43. • HIS FUNERAL “NATIONAL EVENT” • FOOTBALL RECORD: 105-12-5 • HIGHEST PAID INDIVIDUAL AT NOTRE DAME; COMMERCIAL ENDORSEMENTS, PUBLIC LECTURES,. • 1ST CELEBRITY TO DIE IN AN AIRPLANE ACCIDENT. • COACH ROCKNE CONSIDERED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL HISTORY • ROCKNE STRATEGIES ON AND OFF THE FIELD WERE EMULATED BY COLLEGE FOOTBALL PROGRAMS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

14. FOOTBALL CRISIS: CARNEGIE REPORT • 1926-1929 CARNEGIE FOUNDATION RESEARCH ON IMPACT OF COLLEGE SPORTS (FOOTBALL) • 1929 RELEASE CONCLUSIONS: FINANCIAL SUCCESS AND ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE, PRIORITIES OVER EDUCATION AND UNIVERSITY ETHIC STANDARDS.

15. CARNEGIE REPORT • LED BY HENRY PRITCHETT, FORMER PRESIDENT OF MASS.INST.TECH. (MIT) • CARNEGIE REPORT FINDINGS: • FOOTBALL INCREASES ENROLLMENT, SOCIAL VISIBILITY OF INSTITUTIONS. • FOOTBALL HAS A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON ACADEMIC EFFICIENCY AND EDUCATION QUALITY

16. FOOTBALL CRISIS • ACCORDING TO THE CARNEGIE REPORT, HAVING A WINNING FOOTBALL TEAM WAS A RECIPY TO GAIN INSTANT NATIONAL RECOGNITION, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY “FIGHTING METHODISTS” EXAMPLES. • THE REPORT ALSO IDENTIFIED THE EXISTENCE OF BOOSTER ORGANIZATIONS IN MAJOR UNIVERSITIES, WHICH PAID ATHLETES (VISITS, RECRUITMENT, EXPENSES, TUITION, CASH). BOOSTER PRACTICES WERE DETRIMENTAL TO THE AMATEUR PRINCIPLES OF COLLEGE ATHLETICS. THEY NOT ONLY HAD AN EXCESSIVE INFLUENCE IN FOOTBALL PROGRAMS, BUT ALSO COMPROMISE THE ETHIC STANDARDS OF COLLEGE ATHLETICS IN GENERAL.

17. FOOTBALL CRISIS • IMPROPER PRACTICES EVERYWHERE • ONLY FEW SCHOOLS WERE RUNNING “CLEAN PROGRAMS” • $ RECRUITMENT AND FINANCIAL SUBSIDIES FOR ATHLETES COMMON EVERYWHERE. • CAMPUS EMPLOYMENT FRAUD, SUMMER JOBS FRAUD, STUDENT “LOANS”, STUDENT “LEADERSHIP” SCHOLARSHIPS TO ATHLETES. • SLUSH-FUND OPERATIONS CONTROLLED BY HEAD COACHES, CASH TO ATHLETES.

18. CARNEGIE REPORT • PENN, COLUMBIA, BROWN, DARTMOUTH MENTIONED • IVY LEAGUE INITIATED A STRONG EFFORT TO REFORM TO FOLLOW AMATEUR STANDARDS (IN REGARD TO ATHLETES ONLY) • AFTER TRYING TO COMPLY WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND FINDING OUT THAT OTHER RIVAL INSTITUTIONS CONTINUED WITH QUESTIONABLE PRACTICES, THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO TERMINATED FOOTBALL PROGRAM 1939 AND DROPPED FROM THE BIG TEN CONFERENCE. • THE REPORT TRIGGERED A NEW WAVE OF REFORM IN FOOTBALL AND ATHLETIC PROGRAMS NATIONWIDE. • IN GENERAL COLLEGE FOOTBALL AND COLLEGE ATHLETICS CONTINUED WITH QUESTIONABLE PRACTICES REGARDING RECRUITMENT AND SPONSORSHIP OF STAR ATHLETES.