The 1917 Detroit Tigers football team represented the

University of Detroit The University of Detroit Mercy is a private Roman Catholic university in Detroit, Michigan. It is sponsored by both the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The university was founded in 1877 and is the largest Catholic universi ...

in the

1917 college football season The 1917 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the ''Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book'' listing Georgia Tech as national champions, the South's first. Pittsburgh, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Williams, and Washington Sta ...

. The team compiled an 8–1 record, shut out five opponents, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 389 to 34. The team opened the season with a school record 145 to 0 victory over the

Toledo Rockets The Toledo Rockets are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Toledo. The Rockets compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The ...

. Its sole loss was to

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

by a 14 to 3 score.

Tillie Voss Walter Clarence "Tillie" Voss (March 28, 1897 – December 14, 1975) was an American football tackle who played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). During his time with the Green Bay Packers, Voss, along with Frank Hanny of the Ch ...

starred for the 1917 team.

Coaching changes

On March 3, 1917, the University of Detroit hired

Gil Dobie Robert Gilmour "Gloomy Gil" Dobie (January 21, 1878 – December 23, 1948) was an American football player and coach. Over a period of 33 years, he served as the head football coach at North Dakota Agricultural College (now North Dakota State ...

as its head football coach. Dobie had compiled a 58–0–3 record in nine years as head football coach at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. Dobie was lured with the promise that he need work only three months and otherwise devote himself to business. Shortly after Dobie's hiring, a game was scheduled for the fall with

Fielding H. Yost Fielding Harris Yost (; April 30, 1871 – August 20, 1946) was an American football player, coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at: Ohio Wesleyan University, the University of Nebraska, the University ...

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins in college football history. The team is known for its ...

team. Dobie came to Detroit and began coaching the team through early practice sessions in August, but suddenly withdrew from the post at the end of August to become head football coach at the U.S. Naval Academy. Dobie reportedly left Detroit "because he was not satisfied with the small squad" that had turned out. James F. Duffy, a high school coach in Detroit, was hired to take over as the team's head coach. Duffy went on to coach the team for six years.

Schedule

References

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Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

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