Francis John Deig (September 20, 1909 – October 29, 1960) was an American athlete and sports coach. He served as the head football coach at the

University of St. Thomas St. Thomas University or University of St. Thomas may refer to: *Saint Thomas Aquinas University, Colombia *Saint Thomas Aquinas University of the North, Tucumán province, Argentina *St. Thomas University (Canada), Fredericton, New Brunswick *St. ...

from 1946 to 1957, the head basketball coach at St. Thomas from 1940 to 1946, and the athletic director of St. Thomas from 1941 to 1958. He played

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 ...

and basketball at Marquette University.

Early life and education

Deig was born on September 20, 1909, in Black Township, Indiana. He first attended St. Matthew Parochial School before transferring to

Mount Vernon Senior High School Mount Vernon Senior High School is a public high school in Mount Vernon, Indiana and is part of the M.S.D. of Mount Vernon. About The current campus was completed in 1960 and was expanded in the 1980s. It serves high school students from 4 town ...

. He later transferred a second time to Jasper Academy, where he starred in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, basketball, and baseball. He had a batting average of .484 as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

at Jasper Academy, a record that was still standing by 1949. After graduating from there, Deig enrolled at Marquette University. He played basketball and football at Marquette, and in the latter earned All-American honors as well as All-Western honors.

Coaching career

Deig became the football and basketball coach at St. Augustine High School in 1934. The 1935 football team went undefeated and scored 275 points. A 1936 article in the ''

Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

'' wrote "Down at Austin they are mighty proud of the St. Augustine high school team ... The team is coached by Francis Deig, former Marquette university end who won All-American mention four years ago. All of the townspeople are talking about it. The team is big and experienced. Deig has been working on his present squad for three years and many say it is one of the best coached they have ever seen." He finished his time at St. Augustine with 24 consecutive wins. In 1937, Deig became a coach and physical education faculty at

Saint Thomas Academy Saint Thomas Academy (abbr. STA), originally known as St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary and formerly known as St. Thomas Military Academy, is the only all-male, Catholic, college-preparatory, military high school in Minnesota. It is located in Mendota H ...

. He served as head basketball coach until 1940 and as head football coach through 1945. His football team compiled a record of 52–11–7, winning six conference championships. In 1940, Deig was appointed the athletic director and head basketball coach at the

, replacing Nic Musty. By the start of 1946, his record as head basketball coach was 71–28. In January 1946, he was named head football coach as well. The 1946 St. Thomas football team went 4–3, placing second in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). In just his second year with the football team, Deig led them to the conference championship. He led them to the championship again in 1948 and for a third consecutive year in 1949, also helping them achieve a

Cigar Bowl The Cigar Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game held in Tampa, Florida, featuring small college teams. The nine editions of the bowl were held from January 1947 (following the 1946 season) through December 1954 (following the 1954 se ...

berth in 1949. The Cigar Bowl invitation was the first bowl invite ever for a team in the MIAC. In 1956, he led St. Thomas to a fourth MIAC championship with an undefeated 7–0 record. He resigned in April 1958.

Death

Two years after his retirement, Deig died at the age of 51 from a heart attack.

Head coaching record

College football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deig, Frank 1909 births 1960 deaths Players of American football from Indiana American football punters American football ends American football fullbacks Baseball players from Indiana Basketball players from Indiana Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball players Marquette Golden Avalanche football players High school basketball coaches in Minnesota High school football coaches in Minnesota St. Thomas (Minnesota) Tommies men's basketball coaches St. Thomas (Minnesota) Tommies football coaches University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) faculty