Henry Clifford "Doc" Carlson (July 4, 1894 – November 1, 1964) was an American basketball coach and football player. He is a
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and prese ...
inductee as the
men's college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
coach of his alma mater, the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...
, from 1922 to 1953. At Pitt he compiled a record of 367–247 record (.595). His
1927–28 team finished the season with a 21–0 record
and was retroactively named the national champion by the
Helms Athletic Foundation
The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his ownership ...
and the
Premo-Porretta Power Poll
The Premo-Porretta Power Poll is a retroactive end-of-year ranking for American college basketball teams competing in the 1895–96 through the 1947–48 seasons.
The Premo-Porretta Polls are intended to serve collectively as a source of informa ...
; Carlson's Panthers would receive retroactive recognition as the Helms national champion for the
1929–30 season as well.
Carlson also led Pitt to the
Final Four in 1941. As a student at the university, Carlson was also a
First Team All-American end
End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to:
End
*In mathematics:
** End (category theory)
** End (topology)
**End (graph theory)
** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous)
**End (endomorphism)
*In sports and games
**End (gridiron footbal ...
on
Pitt's football team under coach
"Pop" Warner. Carlson also lettered in basketball and
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
.
Biography
Carlson was born in
Murray City, Ohio
Murray City is a village in Hocking County, Ohio, United States. The population was 449 at the 2010 census.
History
Murray City was platted in 1873 and incorporated in 1891. It was named for John Murray Brown, the original owner of the town site ...
. He played high school football, basketball, and baseball (1910–1914) at
Bellefonte Academy
Bellefonte Academy was a historic school building located at Bellefonte, Centre County, Pennsylvania. The original building was built in 1805, as a two-story, rectangular limestone building. It was enlarged between 1839 and 1845, with the additi ...
in
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania
Bellefonte is a borough in, and the county seat of, Centre County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is approximately twelve miles northeast of State College and is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The boro ...
. During his undergraduate years at the University of Pittsburgh (1914–1918) he earned three letters in basketball, two in baseball, four in football. He played on the 1916 Pitt football team that is widely regarded as that season's national champion and was selected as an
All-American football player while playing for Pitt's undefeated 1917 team.
After graduation in 1918, Carlson completed his medical degree at Pitt in 1920, but then joined the
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...
professional football team for one season. When in 1922 Andrew Kerr, who was Pitt's basketball coach and assistant football coach, left to become football head coach at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
, Pitt hired "Doc" Carlson as its new basketball coach. Simultaneously he practiced as a physician for the Carnegie Steel Company.
Carlson was famous for his Figure 8 offense, an innovation that many coaches copied. In 1928 Pittsburgh went a perfect 21–0 and the national championship. His Panthers won another national title in 1930. (Both were selected as national champions, prior to the advent of
NCAA Tournament, by the Helms Athletic Foundation.) He also led the Panthers to Eastern Intercollegiate Conference championships in four out of the seven years of the conference's existence. In 1931 Carlson became the first Eastern coach to take a collegiate team westward, going on the road to beat the
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
, the
University of Colorado
The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...
, Stanford, and the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
. He also wrote the book ''You and Basketball''.
Legend has it that Carlson offered
Stan Musial a basketball scholarship to Pitt, but Musial only wanted to play baseball, and had secretly signed a contract with the
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
'
Monessen, Pennsylvania
Monessen is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,876 at the 2020 census. In 1940, 20,257 people lived there. In 1990 the population was 13,026. Monessen is the southwestern-most municipality of Westmore ...
ball club of the Class D Pennsylvania State League Association.
Carlson became Pitt's director of student health services in 1932 and held that position until his retirement in 1953. Apart from his brief stint in the NFL, he spent the first 43 years of his adult life at Pitt as a student and coach. He died November 1, 1964 at his home in
Ligonier, Pennsylvania
Ligonier is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,513 at the 2020 census. Ligonier was settled in the 1760s. The borough is well known for nearby Idlewild Park, one of the oldest amusement parks in t ...
.
Carlson was inducted into the Helms Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame in 1949, the
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and prese ...
in its inaugural class in 1959, and the
National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Kansas City, Missouri, is a hall of fame and museum dedicated to men's college basketball. The museum is an integral portion of the College Basketball Experience created by the National ...
in its inaugural class of 2006.
Head coaching record
* Eastern Intercollegiate Conference championships between teams with identical records were decided by a one–game playoff in these seasons (included in conference record totals).
See also
*
List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach
This is a list of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament regional championships by coach. The current names of the NCAA tournament regions are the East, Midwest, South, and West. The winners of the four regions are awarded an NCAA Regiona ...
References
*
External links
*
*
''Basketball, the American Game'' Manuscriptat Dartmouth College Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlson, Doc
1894 births
1964 deaths
American football ends
American men's basketball coaches
American men's basketball players
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania
Basketball players from Pennsylvania
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
People from Hocking County, Ohio
Pittsburgh Panthers baseball players
Pittsburgh Panthers football players
Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball coaches
Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball players
Players of American football from Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine alumni