Hall of Fame
He was the father of the "modern" T-Formation. While
coaching at the University of Chicago (1933-1939), Clark
Shaughnessy became intrigued by the pro-T being used by
George Halas and the Chicago Bears. He began dreaming of
ways to improve the offensive set. Then Chicago dropped
football. Shaughnessy was out of work - but not for long.
Stanford signed him for the 1940 season and he shocked the
collegiate football world with the announcement he planned to
install the "T" as his primary formation. "If Stanford wins a
single game with that crazy formation, you can throw all the
football I ever knew into the Pacific Ocean," proclaimed Glenn
"Pop" Warner. Stanford went 10-0-0 that year, including a
21-13 victory over Nebraska in the Rose Bowl. Shaughnessy
earned Coach of the Year honors for his 1940 efforts. Within
the next 10 years, all but a half-dozen schools had switched to
the Shaughnessy "T". A native of St. Cloud, Minnesota,
Shaughnessy starred for the Minnesota teams of 1911 through
1913 before taking his first coaching job at age 23 at Tulane
(1915-1926). He subsequently coached Loyola (New
Orleans), Chicago, Stanford, Maryland, Pittsburgh, the NFL's
Los Angeles Rams 1948-49, and back to the college game for
one year, 1965, at Hawaii. His college record was 151-116-
17. Shaughnessy was born March 6, 1892, in St. Cloud,
Minnesota; he died May 15, 1970, in Santa Monica, California.
