Adam Walsh (December 4, 1901 – January 13, 1985) was an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
player and coach. He played
college football as a
center
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...
at the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...
where he was an
All-American and captain of the 1924 team under
Knute Rockne. Walsh then served as the head football coach at
Santa Clara University from 1925 to 1928 and at
Bowdoin College from 1935 to 1942 and again from 1947 to 1958, compiling a career college football record of 80–85–11. He also coached the
Cleveland / Los Angeles Rams of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL) in 1945 and 1946, tallying a mark of 15–5–1. Walsh was inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1968.
Playing career
Walsh was an outstanding athlete at
Hollywood High School in Los Angeles, and earned varsity letters in basketball, track, and football at the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...
. Walsh was an All-American center and captain of the 1924
Notre Dame football
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the intercollegiate football team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, north of the city of South Bend, Indiana. The team plays its home games at the campus' Notre Dame ...
team under head coach
Knute Rockne. Walsh anchored the team's offensive line, dubbed the "Seven Mules," who blocked for the famed "
Four Horsemen
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are figures in the Christian scriptures, first appearing in the Book of Revelation, a piece of apocalypse literature written by John of Patmos.
Revelation 6 tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand tha ...
" backfield. The 1924 team completed an undefeated season with a win over
Stanford in the
Rose Bowl.
Walsh played every minute of the game against
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
in 1924 with two broken hands, never missed a single snap of the ball, was involved in 75 percent of the tackles on defense, and intercepted a pass in the final minutes of the game to preserve a Notre Dame victory. He remains the offensive center on the All-time Notre Dame Team.
Coaching career
Walsh served as head football coach and
athletic director
An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...
at
Santa Clara University from 1925 to 1928. He then spent five seasons as the line coach at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
, and one season at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
in the same capacity. In 1935, Walsh accepted the head coaching position at
Bowdoin College in
Brunswick, Maine
Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area, Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin Intern ...
. Though Bowdoin had been winless the prior year, Walsh began his 20-year coaching career at the college with a state championship. His teams won or tied for the Maine championship in seven of his first eight years at Bowdoin.
Bowdoin suspended their football program in 1943 with the onset of World War II. In 1944, Walsh returned to Notre Dame as a line coach for a season. In 1945, he led the
Cleveland Rams
The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team that played in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945. The Rams competed in the second American Football League (AFL) for the 1936 season and the National Football League (NFL) from 1937 to 19 ...
to the
NFL Championship and coached the team the next season after a move to Los Angeles. He returned to Bowdoin after two years with the Rams and a 15–5–1 coaching record in the
NFL. Between 1947 and 1958, Walsh's Bowdoin teams won outright or shared the Maine state championship four more times.
Later life and honors
After retiring from coaching, Walsh served two terms in the
Maine House of Representatives, representing Brunswick as a Democrat and was appointed the
U.S. Marshal
The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforce ...
for
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
under
Presidents
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Kennedy and
Johnson
Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...
.
Walsh was inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame in 1968, the Helms Hall of Fame, and the Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1976. He was also named to the All-Time Southern California High School Team, the All-time Notre Dame Team, and the All-time Rose Bowl Team.
Head coaching record
College
NFL
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Adam
1901 births
1985 deaths
20th-century American politicians
American football centers
Bowdoin Polar Bears football coaches
Cleveland Rams coaches
Harvard Crimson football coaches
Los Angeles Rams coaches
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players
Santa Clara Broncos football coaches
Santa Clara Broncos athletic directors
Yale Bulldogs football coaches
Bowdoin College faculty
Democratic Party members of the Maine House of Representatives
United States Marshals
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Politicians from Brunswick, Maine
People from Warren County, Iowa
Coaches of American football from California
Players of American football from Iowa
Players of American football from Los Angeles
Sports coaches from Los Angeles
Cleveland Rams head coaches
Los Angeles Rams head coaches