Francis J. McCormick

McCormick played college football[2] and was a forward on the basketball team at Marquette University.[3] The football teams won a victory over Navy by a score of 21–3 in 1924[4] and completed a 7–2 record in 1925[5] under College Football Hall of Fame head coach Frank Murray.[6]

After graduation at Marquette, McCormic went on to be a member of the Duluth Eskimos in the National Football League (NFL).

McCormick coached at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin starting with the 1934 season until the conclusion of the 1942 season. His record with the Green Knights was a total of 32–26–8 and included a 7–1 season in 1936.[7] Also at St. Norbert, McCormick was the head basketball coach.[8][1]

McCormick the 20th head football coach at Carroll College, serving for nine seasons, from 1949 to 1957.[9] (now called "Carroll University") located in Waukesha, Wisconsin[10][11] His record at Carroll College was 37–31–1.[12] Carroll was his last coaching position as he died in August 1958 before the season began,[13] but the school later inducted him into their "Athletic Hall of Fame" for his contributions to the school and athletic programs.[14] Highlights of his coaching at Carroll included a strong offense in the 1951 season.[15]

McCormick began the 1949 season with twenty eager players that were considered "strong on talent but weak on depth" with team drills beginning in early September 1949.[16] He felt that his most talented team was 1955, a team he called the best Carroll had in ten years.[17] McCormick was selected to coach the "South" team for the 1951 Upper Peninsula All-Star Football exhibition game.[18]

In 1953, McCormick was outspoken among the small-college football coaches against the idea of free substitution in college football.[19] Becoming more common in professional football, the idea paved the way of the "specialist athlete" in college football where one person could focus on one position such as quarterback or punter.[20] For large colleges and professional teams, the idea of free substitution worked well. McCormick pointed out that smaller colleges would suffer under this rule. Free substitution generally prevented a player from returning to gameplay in the same quarter after he was taken out for a substitute and it required either a very large squad that could handle all the substitutions or a highly talented small squad that would not need to substitute.[21]