Frank Chandler "Shorty" Longman (December 7, 1882 – April 4, 1928) 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 was born Dec. 7, 1882 in Fulton, a small community in rural Kalamazoo County, Michigan. By 1894, the Longman family had moved to

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

, and Chandler attended and played on the football team at Kalamazoo High School (later known as

Kalamazoo Central High School Kalamazoo Central High School is a public high school in Kalamazoo, Michigan serving students from ninth through twelfth grades. It was the first public high school in Michigan. It began operating in 1858 and graduated its first class of five men a ...

). He was a member of the June 1902 Kalamazoo High School graduating class, according to an article in the June 19, 1902 Kalamazoo Telegraph. Longman played college football at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1903 to 1905, where he was a star fullback. He later served as the head football coach at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

(1906–1907), and 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 ...

(1909–1910). Longman was one of the stars of

Fielding H. Yost Fielding Harris Yost (; April 30, 1871 – August 20, 1946) was an American football player, coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at: Ohio Wesleyan University, the University of Nebraska, the University ...

's "Point-a-Minute" teams at the

in 1903, 1904, and

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

. In December 1904, the ''

Chicago Daily Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television are ...

'' wrote: "Longman hits the line like a stone shot from a catapult."

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

star,

Walter Eckersall Walter Herbert "Eckie" Eckersall (June 17, 1883 – March 24, 1930) was an American college football player, official, and sportswriter for the ''Chicago Tribune''. He played for the Maroons of the University of Chicago, and was elected to the ...

, later wrote of Longman: From 1906 to 1907, he served as the head football coach at the

, where he compiled a 5–8–3 record. He then coached for one season at the

College of Wooster The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio. Founded in 1866 by the Presbyterian Church as the University of Wooster, it has been officially non-sectarian since 1969 when ownership ties with the Presbyterian Church ...

in 1908. From 1909 to 1910, he coached at Notre Dame, where his teams went 11–1–2. Longman coached the first Notre Dame team to beat the University of Michigan on the gridiron, beating the squad led by Yost, his former coach, 11-3 on Nov. 6, 1909.

Knute Rockne Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used whi ...

, who went on to become a Notre Dame football star and later a legendary coach of the Fighting Irish, played as a freshman on Longman's 1910 team. In December 1910, Longman sold a photographic business and opened a new business in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

as a manufacturer of flashlight powders. In August 1911, Longman resigned as the coach at Notre Dame. At the time, ''

The Indianapolis Star ''The Indianapolis Star'' (also known as ''IndyStar'') is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It has been the only major daily paper in the city since 1999, when the ''Indianap ...

'' wrote: Longman married Edythe Eberbach on July 10, 1906 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Longman died from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

of the lungs and larynx at the University of Michigan Hospital in 1928 at age 45.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longman, Frank 1882 births 1928 deaths American football fullbacks Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Michigan Wolverines football players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches Wooster Fighting Scots football coaches Sportspeople from Kalamazoo, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Players of American football from Ann Arbor, Michigan Tuberculosis deaths in Michigan