Frederick E. Schacht (c. 1875 – December 1, 1906) 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 ...

coach, player, and medical doctor. He served as the head football coach at Kentucky State College—now known as the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

—from 1904 to 1905, compiling a record of 15–4–1.

Early life and college

A native of

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, Schacht joined 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 ...

during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

and served with the 13th Minnesota Volunteers. He then attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, and was initiated as a member of the

Nu Sigma Nu Nu Sigma Nu () was an international professional fraternity for medicine, now existing as a handful of stable remaining chapters. It was founded on 2 March 1882 by five medical students at the University of Michigan, who identified as their immed ...

professional medical fraternity on March 9, 1901. He played on the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

as a tackle in 1903, and the 216-pound Schacht was reportedly "a terror on offense." He starred in Minnesota's 1903 victory over

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, but gained his greatest acclaim for his role in that season's game against

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Schacht broke three ribs shortly before the game, but refused to go to the hospital and showed up beforehand with his body "encased in a steel harness." Despite the broken ribs, he carried the ball three times for 40-, 50- and 60-yard gains after the

kickoff Kickoff or kick-off may refer to * Kick-off (association football) * Kickoff (gridiron football) * ''Kick Off'' (series), a series of computer association football games * ''Kick Off'' (album), a 1985 album by Onyanko Club * ''Kick Off'' (magaz ...

. The contest ended in a tie, which made it the first game Michigan had not won in three years, with Schacht being "hailed throughout the west as the greatest tackle of a decade." After the season, he was named to several All-America teams:

Caspar Whitney Caspar William Whitney (September 2, 1864 – January 18, 1929) was an American author, editor, explorer, outdoorsman and war correspondent. He originated the concept of the All-American team in college football in 1889 when he worked for '' Harp ...

's first team,

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the system ...

's second team, and

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 second team. Schacht received a

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

degree from Minnesota in 1903.

University of Kentucky

At graduation, he worked at the City Hospital in

.''Nu Sigma Nu in 1903''
p. 105, Nu Sigma Nu, 1903. Within a year Schacht soon moved to

Fergus Falls, Minnesota Fergus Falls is a city in and the county seat of Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,119 at the 2020 census. History The falls from which the city gets part of its name were discovered by Joe Whitford (a Scotti ...

. From 1904 to 1905, he served as the head football coach at the

. During the first year of his tenure, a controversy erupted before the

Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden a ...

game against bitter cross-town rival

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

. Kentucky protested the eligibility of several Transylvania players, which prompted Professor A. P. Fairhurst of the opponent's athletic committee to pen an article in the ''

Lexington Herald The ''Lexington Herald-Leader'' is a newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and based in Lexington, Kentucky. According to the ''1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook'', the paid circulation of the ''Herald-Leader'' is the second larg ...

'' titled "Shut Up and Play Ball". In it, he sarcastically wrote that Transylvania would allow Kentucky to draw players ''"from the four quarters of the earth and from the fifth quarter if you can find it gather them from all the tribes and kindred of the earth ... Hottentots, Flat-head Indians, Patagonians,

Native Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. They consist of two distin ...

, Esquimaux,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

ers, Danvillians,

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

ans,

Hoodoos A hoodoo (also called a tent rock, fairy chimney, or earth pyramid) is a tall, thin spire of rock formed by erosion. Hoodoos typically consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the ...

Burgoo Burgoo is a stew, similar to Irish or Mulligan stew, often served with cornbread or corn muffins. It is often prepared communally as a social gathering. It is popular as the basis for civic fund-raisers in the American Midwest and South. Et ...

s, Whatnots, Topnots ... the more the merrier".'' Gregory Kent Stanley
''Before Big Blue: Sports at the University of Kentucky, 1880–1940''
pp. 31–36, University Press of Kentucky, 1996, . The next day, the ''Herald'' published an article from the

Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Association was a short-lived College athletics, intercollegiate athletic college football, football conference that existed from 1907 to 1916. The league had members, as its name suggests, in the state of Kentu ...

titled "Protests Erased From Slate—Game Will Be Played" in which it declared the Transylvania players eligible. Kentucky won the game easily, 21–4. Kentucky struggled the following season, and was shut out, 82–0, by Saint Louis. Controversy arose prior to the Thanksgiving rivalry against Transylvania when Kentucky again protested the eligibility of some opposing players. This time, however, neither school could come to an agreement, and the game was cancelled altogether. Transylvania scheduled

Ohio Wesleyan Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Ohio Valley, Central Ohio residents as a nonsec ...

instead, while Kentucky held elections for the next year's team captains and disbanded for the season. Kentucky amassed a 15–4–1 record during his tenure.

Later life

On November 26, 1904, he married Sophia Gloria née Weise in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. In 1905, he opened a

drug store A pharmacy (also called "drugstore" in American English or "community pharmacy" or "chemist" in Commonwealth English, or rarely, apothecary) is a retail shop which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmacis ...

Burlington, Washington Burlington is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. Its population was recorded as 9,152 in the 2020 census. Burlington is located approximately halfway between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. The city is included in the Mount Vernon&n ...

. After several months of illness, Schacht died at the

Providence Hospital Providence Hospital may refer to: *Providence Hospital (Columbia, South Carolina) *Providence Hospital (Mobile) in Mobile, Alabama *Providence Hospital (Southfield), Michigan *Providence Hospital (Washington, D.C.) in Washington, D.C. *Providence Al ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

on December 1, 1906 at the age of 31. It was the opinion of the attending physician that

overtraining Overtraining occurs when a person exceeds their body's ability to recover from strenuous exercise. Overtraining can be described as a point where a person may have a decrease in performance and plateauing as a result of failure to consistently perfo ...

during his football career was responsible for a weakened heart that resulted in his death. Another account states that he died from

Bright's disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied b ...

. Minnesota's football coach Dr.

Henry L. Williams Henry Lane Williams (July 26, 1869 – June 14, 1931) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the United States Military Academy in 1891 and the University of Minnesota from 1900 to 1921, compiling a care ...

denied suggestions that the death was the result of overtraining.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schacht, Fred 1870s births 1906 deaths American football tackles American pharmacists Kentucky Wildcats football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football players All-American college football players American military personnel of the Spanish–American War University of Minnesota Medical School alumni People from Burlington, Washington Sports coaches from Minneapolis Coaches of American football from Minnesota Players of American football from Minneapolis Military personnel from Minnesota Physicians from Minnesota Deaths from nephritis