Clark Shaughnessy

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Clark Daniel Shaughnessy (March 6, 1892–May 15, 1970) was an American Football coach. He was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the second son of Edward and Lucy Shaughnessy.

After playing as a fullback at the University of Minnesota, Shaughnessy coached at Tulane University and Loyola of the South between 1915 and 1932. From 1933 to 1939 Shaughnessy coached at the University of Chicago. While there, he developed a friendship with Chicago Bears owner and coach George Halas, helping him to implement Shaughnessy's version of the T-formation offense.

The T-formation was decades old, but Shaughnessy adapted it to make the quarterback the focus of the offense. This helped to make the passing game a more important part of play, and his success spawned imitators. Within a few years, most other teams had abandoned the single wing offense for the T-formation. Shaughnessy's innovations revolutionized the game of football at both the professional and collegiate level. The two coaches scouted, recruited and signed Columbia University quarterback Sid Luckman to execute the complex offense. During Luckman's first years with the Bears, Shaughnessy was a constant source of encouragement.

Playing Shaughnessy's offense, the Bears became a powerhouse, winning four NFL Championships between 1940 and 1946.

After the University of Chicago dropped its football program, Shaughnessy coached Stanford University for two seasons, winning the Rose Bowl in 1941. Jim Johnson's book "The Wow Boys" covers in detail the 1940 season in which he first implemented the T formation at Stanford. While coaching at Stanford he recruited a Chicago prep star Frankie Albert, a left-handed scrambler, who thrived in the offense, and had a long career with the 49ers.

He also had stints as head coach at the University of Maryland and another at the University of Pittsburgh.

In 1948, he surprised many observers by leaving the college ranks to coach the Los Angeles Rams. Shaughnessy posted a 6-5-1 record in his first season, with Bob Waterfield as his quarterback. During the 1949 season, Shaughnessy innovated again, making Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch into a permanent flanker, leaving only two backs in the backfield. This was the first "Pro Set" offense used consistently. With Waterfield and rookie Norm Van Brocklin at QB, the Rams posted a 8-2-2 record and won their division. Tom Fears set a new NFL record for receptions in a season with 77. Despite this success, the 1949 Rams lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL Championship game during a rainstorm. Shaughnessy was fired at the end of the season because of friction with owner Dan Reeves. The Shaughnessy offense, led by Waterfield and Van Brocklin, featuring Fears and Hirsch, but coached by Joe Stydahar, won the Western Conference in 1950 and 1951 and the NFL title in 1951, shattering NFL offensive records along the way.

Shaughnessy rejoined Halas in Chicago in 1951, serving for 11 years as a technical adviser and vice president of the Bears. While there, he developed revolutionary defensive strategies, using shifts, stunts, and a variety of alignments to create an attacking defense.

Shaughnessy returned to coaching for one season, serving as head coach at the University of Hawaii in 1965. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1968.

After his retirement, Shaughnessy lived in Santa Monica, California. He died there after a brief illness at the age of 78.

[edit] Head Coaching Record

[edit] External links

• Shaughnessy's entry at College Football Hall of Fame
• The Genius of Clark Shaughnessy - Article on his Innovations