Francis "Frank" William Cavanaugh (April 28, 1876 – August 29, 1933) was an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

player and coach. He served as the head football coach at

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

in 1898, the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest ...

from 1903 to 1905,

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

from 1911 to 1916,

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

from 1919 to 1926, and

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

from 1927 to 1932, compiling a career college football coaching record of 145–48–17. Cavanaugh played football at Dartmouth as an

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 ...

from 1896 to 1897. Nicknamed "Cav" and "The Iron Major," he was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

as a coach in 1954.

Early life and playing career

Born in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

, Cavanaugh played

as an

from 1896 to 1897, under coach

William Wurtenburg William Charles Wurtenburg (December 24, 1863 – March 26, 1957) was an American college football player and coach. Born and raised in Western New York to German parents, Wurtenburg attended the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy, where ...

Coaching career and military service

Cavanaugh served as the head football coach at the

in 1898, followed with a stint coaching at the

Denver Athletic Club The Denver Athletic Club, founded in 1884, is a private athletic and social club that is member-owned. Located in Downtown Denver, Colorado, United States. Residing in the historical 1325 Glenarm Place near the Colorado Convention Center, The D ...

from 1898 to 1903. He then returned to his native Worcester to coach at the

from 1903 to 1905, followed by high school coaching at

Worcester Academy Worcester Academy is a private school in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is the oldest educational institution founded in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, and one of the oldest day-boarding schools in the United States. A coeducational prepara ...

from 1909 to 1910. Cavanaugh left Worcester to return to college football at his alma mater, Dartmouth from 1911 to 1916. There, he coached

Lawrence Whitney Lawrence "Larry" Atwood Whitney (February 2, 1891 – April 24, 1941) was an American athlete who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics. Career Whitney graduated from Worcester Academy in 1911, where he lettered in baseball and basketball ...

, who also attended Worcester Academy when Cavanaugh coached there. Cavanaugh left Dartmouth in 1917 to enter the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

to serve during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He rose to the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

and was seriously wounded during the

Meuse–Argonne offensive The Meuse–Argonne offensive (also known as the Meuse River–Argonne Forest offensive, the Battles of the Meuse–Argonne, and the Meuse–Argonne campaign) was a major part of the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along th ...

on October 23, 1918. Shellfire broke his cheek, nose, and skull, all of which contributed to later

blindness Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

. In 1919, Cavanaugh published a book entitled ''Inside Football''. Cavanaugh's final two coaching stints were at

from 1919 to 1926 and

from 1927 to 1932. At Fordham, he implemented the

T formation In American football, a T formation (frequently called the full house formation in modern usage, sometimes the Robust T) is a Formation (American football), formation used by the offensive team in which three running backs line up in a row about ...

on offense. He finished career with a college coaching record of 148–50–18.

Death and honors

At the time of his death in 1933, Cavanaugh was bankrupt. He was survived by his widow, Florence Ayres, and their seven children. On October 25, 1943, a

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

about Cavanaugh's life was released by

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

titled ''

The Iron Major ''The Iron Major'' is a 1943 American biographical film about the famed college football coach and World War I hero, Frank Cavanaugh. Directed by Ray Enright, the screenplay was written by Aben Kandel and Warren Duff, based on Florence E. Cava ...

'', based on his wife's recounts. The actor

Pat O'Brien Pat O'Brien may refer to: Politicians * Pat O'Brien (Canadian politician) (born 1948), member of the Canadian House of Commons *Pat O'Brien (Irish politician) (c. 1847–1917), Irish Nationalist MP in the United Kingdom Parliament Others *Pat O'Br ...

portrayed Cavanaugh's in the main role. In 1954, Cavanaugh was posthumously inducted into the

as a coach.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cavanaugh, Frank 1876 births 1933 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football ends Sportspeople with a vision impairment Players of American football from Worcester, Massachusetts United States Army personnel of World War I Dartmouth Big Green football players Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches Holy Cross Crusaders football coaches Dartmouth Big Green football coaches Boston College Eagles football coaches Fordham Rams football coaches High school football coaches in Massachusetts College Football Hall of Fame inductees