Chicago Maroons football | |
---|---|
First season | 1892 |
Athletic director | Angie Torain [1] |
Head coach | Todd Gilchrist [2] |
Stadium | New Stagg Field (capacity: 1,650) |
Field surface | FieldTurf |
Location | Chicago, Illinois |
Conference | Midwest Conference |
All-time record | 416–368–34 (.529) |
Claimed national titles | 2 (1905, 1913) |
Conference titles | 12 (1899, 1905, 1907, 1908, 1912, 1922, 1924, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2014) |
Heisman winners | Jay Berwanger – 1935 |
Consensus All-Americans | 12 |
Current uniform | |
Colors | Maroon and white [3] |
Fight song | Wave the Flag |
Mascot | Phil the Phoenix |
Website | Athletics.UChicago.edu |
The Chicago Maroons football team represents the University of Chicago in college football. The Maroons, which play in NCAA Division III, have been a football-only member of the Midwest Conference since 2017. [4] The University of Chicago was a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and the Maroons were coached by Amos Alonzo Stagg for 41 seasons. In 1935, halfback Jay Berwanger became the first recipient of the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy, later known as the Heisman Trophy. In the late 1930s, university president Robert Maynard Hutchins decided that big-time college football and the university's commitment to academics were not compatible. [5] The university abolished its football program in 1939 and withdrew from the Big Ten in 1946. Football returned to the University of Chicago in 1963 in the form of a club team, which was upgraded to varsity status in 1969. The Maroons began competing in Division III in 1973.
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The program began play in 1892, with coach Amos Alonzo Stagg at the helm, where he would serve for until 1933. The team's name came about when Stagg decided the team needed to change in its color from goldenrod, with Stagg pointing out how the color soiled easily. On May 5, 1894, students and faculty met to determine the official color and nickname, with the result being the Maroons. The Maroons spent their first four seasons as an independent, with 1894 being a highlight year in which they went 10–7–1. They joined the Big Ten Conference in 1896. In 1899, they won their first Big Ten title, going 12–0–2 in regular play and 4-0 in conference play. Stagg formed a squad that would be fairly consistent for a quarter of a century, with the Maroons winning seven conference titles from 1899 to 1924, while managing to have four seasons in which they did not lose a game.
The Chicago football team has used the wishbone-C logo since at least 1898. [6]
Stagg retired from Chicago after the 1932 season, in which the team went 3–4–1 (1–4), and then coached at the University of the Pacific. Clark Shaughnessy took over as the Maroons football coach in 1933. In his seven seasons he led them to two .500 records, but no finish above 6th in the conference. In 1936, they beat Wisconsin 7–6. As it turned out, this was their last win as a Big Ten member. The team disbanded in 1939. Chicago fielded a football team again for the 1969 season. The team struggled for a few years, not getting to .500 until 1976, with a 4-4 record, and not getting above 500 until 1985. The first few decades were marked by losing, with four winless seasons occurring from 1973 to 1991. In 1994, Dick Maloney was hired as coach of the team. His 1995 team went 8–2, the Maroons' most wins in a season since coming back as a team. In 1998, the Maroons won the UAA conference title, winning all four of its conference games. The Maroons won three more conference titles under Maloney, who retired in 2012. Chris Wilkerson was hired as coach in 2013. In his second season, he led them to a UAA title.
Chicago lays claim to two national championships. Although they do not compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, they maintain claims to titles won at the highest level at the time.
Season | Coach | Selector | Record |
---|---|---|---|
1905 | Amos Alonzo Stagg | Billingsley, Helms, Houlgate, NCF | 11–0 |
1913 | Amos Alonzo Stagg | Billingsley, Parke Davis | 7–0 |
Chicago has won 12 conference championships, seven in the Big Ten Conference and five in the University Athletic Association [8] [9]
Season | Conference | Coach | Overall Record | Conference Record |
---|---|---|---|---|
1899 | Big Ten Conference | Amos Alonzo Stagg | 12–0–2 | 4–0 |
1905 | Big Ten Conference | Amos Alonzo Stagg | 11–0 | 7–0 |
1907 | Big Ten Conference | Amos Alonzo Stagg | 4–1 | 4–0 |
1908 | Big Ten Conference | Amos Alonzo Stagg | 5–0–1 | 5–0 |
1913 | Big Ten Conference | Amos Alonzo Stagg | 7–0 | 7–0 |
1922 | Big Ten Conference | Amos Alonzo Stagg | 5–1–1 | 4–0–1 |
1924 | Big Ten Conference | Amos Alonzo Stagg | 4–1–3 | 3–0–3 |
1998 | University Athletic Association | Dick Maloney | 7–2 | 4–0 |
2000 | University Athletic Association | Dick Maloney | 7–2 | 4–0 |
2005 | University Athletic Association | Dick Maloney | 5–4 | 3–0 |
2010 | University Athletic Association | Dick Maloney | 8–2 | 3–0 |
2014 | University Athletic Association | Chris Wilkerson | 8–1 | 3–0 |
School | Wins | Losses | Ties | % |
---|---|---|---|---|
Illinois | 19 | 22 | 3 | .466 |
Indiana | 20 | 4 | 1 | .789 |
Iowa | 9 | 3 | 2 | .714 |
Maryland* | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
Michigan | 7 | 19 | 0 | .269 |
Michigan State* | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
Minnesota | 5 | 12 | 1 | .306 |
Nebraska* | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
Northwestern | 26 | 8 | 3 | .743 |
Ohio State | 2 | 10 | 2 | .214 |
Penn State* | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
Purdue | 27 | 14 | 1 | .655 |
Rutgers* | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
Wisconsin | 16 | 19 | 5 | .463 |
Note: Michigan State, Penn State, Nebraska, Maryland, and Rutgers were not members of the Big Ten when Chicago was a member. [10]
Name | Position | Tenure | Inducted | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jay Berwanger | Halfback | 1933–1935 | 1954 | First recipient of the Heisman Trophy |
Hugo Bezdek | Fullback | 1905 | 1954 | Inducted for his career as a coach at Oregon, Arkansas, and Penn State |
Fritz Crisler | End | 1919–1921 | 1954 | Inducted for his career as a coach at Minnesota, Princeton, and Michigan |
Paul Des Jardien | Center | 1912–1914 | 1955 | All-American in 1913 and 1914 |
Walter Eckersall | Quarterback | 1903–1906 | 1951 | Leader of the 1905 national championship team |
Clarence Herschberger | Fullback | 1895–1898 | 1970 | First western player selected as a first-team All-American |
Tiny Maxwell | Guard | 1902, 1904–1905 | 1974 | All-American for 1905 national championship team |
Clark Shaughnessy | Coach | 1933–1939 | 1968 | College football coach for 50 years |
Amos Alonzo Stagg | Coach | 1892–1932 | 1951 | "The Grand Old Man of the Midway" |
Walter Steffen | Quarterback | 1906–1908 | 1969 | Scored 156 points for teams that went 13–2–1; First-team All-American, 1908 |
Andy "Polyphemus" Wyant | Guard, Center | 1892–1894 | 1962 | Played 8 varsity seasons of college football for Bucknell and Chicago |
The University Athletic Association (UAA) is an American athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division III. Member schools are highly selective universities located in Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Ohio, and New York. The eight members are Brandeis University, Carnegie Mellon University, Case Western Reserve University, Emory University, New York University, The University of Chicago, University of Rochester, and Washington University in St. Louis.
Amos Alonzo Stagg was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (1890–1891), the University of Chicago (1892–1932), and the College of the Pacific (1933–1946), compiling a career college football record of 314–199–35 (.605). His undefeated Chicago Maroons teams of 1905 and 1913 were recognized as national champions. He was also the head basketball coach for one season at Chicago (1920–1921), and the Maroons' head baseball coach for twenty seasons.
Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler was an American college football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football", an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and defense. Crisler developed two-platoon football while serving as head coach at the University of Michigan from 1938 to 1947. He also coached at the University of Minnesota (1930–1931) and Princeton University (1932–1937). Before coaching, he played football at the University of Chicago under Amos Alonzo Stagg, who nicknamed him Fritz after violinist Fritz Kreisler.
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The 1905 Chicago Maroons football team was an American football team that represented the University of Chicago during the 1905 Western Conference football season. In coach Amos Alonzo Stagg's 14th year as head coach, the Maroons finished with an 11–0 record, shut out 10 of 11 opponents, and outscored all opponents by a total of 271 to 5. The team played its home games at Marshall Field on the school's campus.
The 1913 Chicago Maroons football team was an American football team that represented the University of Chicago as a member of the Western Conference during the 1913 college football season. In coach Amos Alonzo Stagg's 22nd year as head coach, the Maroons finished with a 7–0 record and outscored opponents by a total of 124 to 27.
The 1918 Chicago Maroons football team was an American football team that represented the University of Chicago during the 1918 Big Ten Conference football season. In their 27th season under head coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, the Maroons compiled a 4–6–1 record, finished in last place in the Big Ten Conference, but still outscored their opponents by a combined total of 128 to 91. No Chicago players were selected to the first team of that All-America or All-Big Ten teams.
The 1924 Chicago Maroons football team was an American football team that represented the University of Chicago during the 1924 Big Ten Conference football season. In their 33rd season under head coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, the Maroons compiled a 4–1–3 record, won the Big Ten Conference championship, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 88 to 40.
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