Charles C. Riley (May 13, 1902 – July 19, 1971) 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 with ...

player and coach. He was born in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

. Riley was the starting

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and

punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

for most of the 1927 season at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

. He is mostly remembered for his last game with the team—a controversial 7–6 victory against

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) since 1 ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

before the largest crowd ever to witness a football game at that time, estimated to be 120,000 in attendance. While clinging to the one-point lead late in the game, Riley fielded a USC punt at his own goal line and appeared to fumble it out of the end zone, which would have given the Trojans a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

and an 8–7 lead. But the play was ruled a muff, and therefore a

touchback In American football, a touchback is a ruling which is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line (i.e., in their end zone) and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to trav ...

. Notre Dame would hang on for the win. In 1930, Riley was hired by fellow Notre Dame alum

Tom Lieb Thomas John Lieb (October 28, 1899 – April 30, 1962) was an American Olympic track and field athlete, an All-American college football player and a multi-sport collegiate coach. Lieb was a Minnesota native and an alumnus of the University ...

to be his assistant football coach at Loyola University of Los Angeles. One year later, Riley became the head football coach for the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

and remained there for three years, posting a record of 7–13–3. He died on July 19, 1971.http://www.archives.nd.edu/Alumnus/VOL_0049/VOL_0049_ISSUE_0005.pdf

Head coaching record

References

* Schoor, Gene. ''100 Years of Notre Dame Football.'' New York: Morrow and Co. (1987). p. 56–58 1902 births 1971 deaths American football quarterbacks Loyola Lions football coaches New Mexico Lobos football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Players of American football from Indianapolis {{quarterback-1900s-stub