Henry E. Frnka ( ; March 16, 1903 – December 18, 1980) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin to ...

from 1941 to 1945 and at Tulane University from 1946 to 1951, compiling a career

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 ...

record of 71–32–5. Frnka was also the athletic director at Tulsa from 1941 to 1945.

Coaching career

High school

Frnka began his coaching career at the high school level. He served as the head football coach at Lubbock High School in

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northw ...

from 1926 to 1930 before moving to Greenville High School in Greenville, Texas in 1931. He led the Greenville Lions to a Texas state championship in 1933. He used the fumblerooski for the very first time in the 1933 Texas High School Championship game.

Vanderbilt

Frank left Greenville in 1936 to become freshman coach at Vanderbilt University. He was briefly succeeded at Greenville by his assistant,

Dennis Vinzant Dennis Ivan Vinzant (August 23, 1906 – June 22, 1976) was an American football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head basketball coach at East Texas State Teachers College—now known a Texas A&M University–Commerce—from 1936 to 1 ...

Tulsa

From 1941 to 1945, Frnka coached at the

, and compiled a 40–9–1 record. The Tulsa Golden Hurricane had never been to a bowl game before, and he took them to five straight, becoming Tulsa's most prolific coach. The Golden Hurricane won three league titles, and outscored opponents 1,552 to 375. He led the team to their first bowl game and a school-best national ranking of No. 4 at the end of the 1942 season.

Tulane

From 1946 to 1951, Frnka coached at Tulane University, and compiled a 31–23–4 record. Since the 1920s, the Tulane Green Wave had been a national power in college football, and Frnka-led teams produced records of 9–1 in 1948, 7–2–1 in 1949, and 6–2–1 in 1950. In a 1949 issue devoted to a preview of that year's college football season, ''SPORT'' magazine declared that Tulane was the best team in the country.

Death

Frnka died on December 18, 1980 in San Antonio, Texas at the age of 77.

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frnka, Henry 1903 births 1980 deaths American football halfbacks Austin Kangaroos football players Temple Owls football coaches Tulane Green Wave football coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane athletic directors Tulsa Golden Hurricane football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches High school football coaches in Texas People from Colorado County, Texas Players of American football from Texas