Dutch Meyer
Encyclopedia
Leo R. "Dutch" Meyer was an American football
, basketball
, and baseball
player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Texas Christian University
from 1934 to 1952, compiling a record of 109–79–13. His TCU Horned Frogs football
teams of 1935 and 1938 have been recognized as national champions. Meyer was also the head basketball coach at TCU from 1934 to 1937, tallying a mark of 10–37, and the head baseball coach at TCU (1926–1934, 1945, 1956–1957), amassing a record of 111–83–1. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
as a coach in 1956.
, Meyer prepped at Waco High School
under coach Paul Tyson
. He went on to play football
, baseball
and basketball
at TCU, earning 11 varsity letters overall. Upon graduation in 1922 with a degree in geology
, Meyer played one summer in the minor leagues
for the Cleveland Indians
organization. That fall, he coached at Polytechnic High School
in Fort Worth, Texas
before becoming the freshman coach at TCU in 1923. He was promoted to head coach in 1934.
In 19 years as the Horned Frogs'
coach, Meyer amassed a record of 109–79–13, and is to this day the all-time winningest coach in school history. He led TCU to a national championship in 1938, and Southwest Conference championships in 1938, 1944 and 1951.
TCU played in seven bowl games under his tenure, and he coached twelve All-Americans at TCU, including Sammy Baugh
, Heisman Trophy
winner Davey O'Brien
, Darrell Lester
and Ki Aldrich
.
Meyer helped invent the modern passing game after he saw QB Sammy Baugh playing in a sandlot league and enrolled him at TCU. Because of Baugh's great arm, Coach Meyer created the "Meyer Spread" which is what is now known as the Double-Wing formation. This was a formation where the ends and wingback spread wider than was common for the time.
Sammy Baugh told The Washington Post
:
Meyer's overall coaching style and philosophy is best summed up in a quote still given to TCU athletes before they go out to compete - "Fight 'em until hell freezes over. Then fight 'em on the ice!"
Meyer wrote a book entitled Spread Formations which detailed his ideas about football formations. He retired from coaching in 1952, and became the Athletic Director at TCU until 1963. He also briefly served as the baseball coach at TCU in 1956, winning an SWC Championship. The same year, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
. He was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco
in 1957. In 1961 the university named the recently constructed basketball facility, Daniel-Meyer Coliseum
, in honor of Coach Meyer and Milton E. Daniel, a TCU trustee.
Meyer earned a number of nicknames through the years, including "Mr. Football," "The Saturday Fox," "Old Iron Pants" and "Old Dutch," in reference to his nephew, L. D. Meyer
, who played for him at TCU and was known at "Little Dutch."
There is currently an up-scale burger joint on University Drive right next to campus called "Dutch's" that is dedicated to the former TCU coach.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...
from 1934 to 1952, compiling a record of 109–79–13. His TCU Horned Frogs football
TCU Horned Frogs football
The TCU Horned Frogs football team is the intercollegiate football team of Texas Christian University. TCU competes as a member of the Mountain West Conference in the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, but will move to the Big 12 Conference for the 2012 season. TCU began playing football...
teams of 1935 and 1938 have been recognized as national champions. Meyer was also the head basketball coach at TCU from 1934 to 1937, tallying a mark of 10–37, and the head baseball coach at TCU (1926–1934, 1945, 1956–1957), amassing a record of 111–83–1. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
as a coach in 1956.
Biography
A native of Ellinger, TexasEllinger, Texas
Ellinger is an unincorporated rural community in Fayette County, Texas, United States. It is located on State Highway 71, 12 miles east of La Grange and 2 miles from the Fayette and Colorado County line...
, Meyer prepped at Waco High School
Waco High School
Waco High School is a Texas UIL Class 4A public high school located on N. 42 Street in Waco, Texas. As of August 2009, enrollment was 1902 with 139 teachers. The ethnicity is roughly 44.95% African American, 36.91% Hispanic, 17.19% White American and 0.95% Other. The school mascot is the lion...
under coach Paul Tyson
Paul Tyson
Paul Leighton Tyson was an American football coach. He is one of the most successful high school football coaches of all time, winning four Texas state championships and one mythical national championship in the 1920s...
. He went on to play football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
and basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
at TCU, earning 11 varsity letters overall. Upon graduation in 1922 with a degree in geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, Meyer played one summer in the minor leagues
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
for the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
organization. That fall, he coached at Polytechnic High School
Polytechnic High School (Fort Worth, Texas)
Polytechnic High School is a public high school located on the eastern side of Fort Worth, Texas.-Notable alumni:*Hugh Parmer , former mayor of Fort Worth and former member of both houses of the Texas State Legislature-External links:...
in Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
before becoming the freshman coach at TCU in 1923. He was promoted to head coach in 1934.
In 19 years as the Horned Frogs'
TCU Horned Frogs
The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University, consisting of 18 varsity teams. The "horned frog" nickname and mascot refer to the Texas horned lizard, as known as the "horned frog". The women's athletics teams are often referred to often as the Lady Frogs...
coach, Meyer amassed a record of 109–79–13, and is to this day the all-time winningest coach in school history. He led TCU to a national championship in 1938, and Southwest Conference championships in 1938, 1944 and 1951.
TCU played in seven bowl games under his tenure, and he coached twelve All-Americans at TCU, including Sammy Baugh
Sammy Baugh
Samuel Adrian "Slingin' Sammy" Baugh was an American football player and coach. He played college football for the Horned Frogs at Texas Christian University, where he was a two-time All-American. He then played in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins from 1937 to 1952...
, Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
winner Davey O'Brien
Davey O'Brien
Robert David O'Brien was an American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football at Texas Christian University and was drafted in the first round of the 1939 NFL Draft. In 1938, O'Brien won the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, and the...
, Darrell Lester
Darrell Lester
Darrell George Lester was two-time All-American center for Texas Christian University in the 1930s.A native of Jacksboro, Texas, Lester was not only a great football player at TCU...
and Ki Aldrich
Ki Aldrich
Charles Collins "Ki" Aldrich was an American football player. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1960.-Early life:...
.
Meyer helped invent the modern passing game after he saw QB Sammy Baugh playing in a sandlot league and enrolled him at TCU. Because of Baugh's great arm, Coach Meyer created the "Meyer Spread" which is what is now known as the Double-Wing formation. This was a formation where the ends and wingback spread wider than was common for the time.
Sammy Baugh told The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
:
"Dutch Meyer taught us. All the coaches I had in the pros, I didn't learn a damn thing from any of `em compared with what Dutch Meyer taught me. He taught the short pass. The first day we go into a room and he has three S's up on a blackboard; nobody knew what that meant. Then he gives us a little talk and he says, `This is our passing game.' He goes up to the blackboard and he writes three words that complete the S's: `Short, Sure and Safe.' That was his philosophy — the short pass."Everybody loved to throw the long pass. But the point Dutch Meyer made was, `Look at what the short pass can do for you.' You could throw it for seven yards on first down, then run a play or two for a first down, do it all over again and control the ball. That way you could beat a better team."
Meyer's overall coaching style and philosophy is best summed up in a quote still given to TCU athletes before they go out to compete - "Fight 'em until hell freezes over. Then fight 'em on the ice!"
Meyer wrote a book entitled Spread Formations which detailed his ideas about football formations. He retired from coaching in 1952, and became the Athletic Director at TCU until 1963. He also briefly served as the baseball coach at TCU in 1956, winning an SWC Championship. The same year, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
. He was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco
Waco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
in 1957. In 1961 the university named the recently constructed basketball facility, Daniel-Meyer Coliseum
Daniel-Meyer Coliseum
Daniel-Meyer Coliseum is a basketball arena located on the campus of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. The arena is home to the TCU Horned Frogs and TCU Lady Frogs basketball teams. It was built in 1961 and named after former TCU football and basketball coach Dutch Meyer and former...
, in honor of Coach Meyer and Milton E. Daniel, a TCU trustee.
Meyer earned a number of nicknames through the years, including "Mr. Football," "The Saturday Fox," "Old Iron Pants" and "Old Dutch," in reference to his nephew, L. D. Meyer
L. D. Meyer
Lambert Dalton "Little Dutch" Meyer was college football player and baseball manager, as well as the nephew of the famous and similarly named Texas Christian University football coach Leo "Dutch" Meyer....
, who played for him at TCU and was known at "Little Dutch."
There is currently an up-scale burger joint on University Drive right next to campus called "Dutch's" that is dedicated to the former TCU coach.
Football
External links
- Dutch Meyer at College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
- Dutch Meyer at the Handbook of Texas