Mark Catlin
Encyclopedia
Mark S. Catlin, Sr. was an American football
player, track
athlete, coach, lawyer, and politician. He served as the head football coach at the University of Iowa
from 1906 to 1908, and at Lawrence University
from 1909 to 1918 and again from 1924 to 1927, compiling a career college football
record of 63–40–7. Catlin played football at the University of Chicago
and also participated in track and field competitions held adjunct to the 1904 Olympic Games. He later worked as an attorney and also served in the Wisconsin State Assembly
from 1921 to 1923.
, Catlin played football at the University of Chicago
under Amos Alonzo Stagg
. He accounted for the only score in Chicago
's 1905 victory over Michigan
by tackling a Wolverine in the end zone for a safety. The Chicago victory broke Michigan’s 56-game unbeaten streak. He earned All-Western Conference
honors at the end position, and he was named a second team All-American
.
Catlin was also a brilliant field athlete. Catlin won in the broad jump and high and low hurdles and also competed in the hurdles and discus at the Olympic Collegiate Championships, held in St. Louis in June, before the 1904 Olympics, along with many other competitions that included the word "Olympics" in their title. At this competition he received gold medals in the 120 and 220 yd hurdles and silver in the discus. His time in the 120 yd hurdles (15 3-5s) bested that recorded in the official Olympics (16s). He graduated from Chicago in 1905. 100 years later, Catlin was elected to the University of Chicago's Hall of Fame in 2005.
. Catlin was hired as the heir apparent to John Chalmers
as Iowa's head football coach. Catlin spent the 1906 season assisting Chalmers. Although Catlin was actually an assistant coach, many Iowa records consider Catlin, not Chalmers, the official coach of the 1906 Hawkeyes.
The Western Conference
meetings of 1905 led to two significant rule changes. Conference members were not allowed to play more than five games per season. Also, freshmen were now ineligible, and players were allowed a maximum of three years of eligibility. These rule changes were made in response to growing criticism over player injuries and deaths during games at that time.
These changes greatly hampered play in 1906. Conference players who were to be seniors were all ruled ineligible, because they had already played three years of competition. Players who were to be freshmen also sat out. Only players who were to be sophomores and juniors were allowed to play.
Iowa finished with a 2–3 record in 1906. Coaches Chalmers and Catlin worked well together but had contrasting coaching styles. Chalmers learned the eastern style of play at Lafayette, coaching players as individuals and devising conservative schemes to maximize their talents. Catlin learned the western style of play from Amos Alonzo Stagg
at Chicago, coaching schemes rather than players and advocating an open, aggressive style.
The most notable game of the 1907 season was the "rabbit game" against Wisconsin
. After two easy wins to start the season, Iowa held a 5–0 halftime lead over Wisconsin when the two teams lined up for the second half kickoff. A rabbit ran out of Wisconsin's end zone and sprinted 110 yards downfield into Iowa's end zone. Wisconsin returned a punt late in the game for a touchdown, following the path of the rabbit, and gave the Badgers a 6–5 win.
The Hawkeyes were amusingly convinced that it was the rabbit that had jinxed the team. Before their Wednesday practice for the weekend's Illinois
game, the team had a rabbit hunt. Catlin found and shot the unlucky rabbit, and before the game with Illinois, the members of the Hawkeye team rubbed the dead rabbit's left hind foot for good luck. It must have worked; Iowa won, 25–12. Iowa finished the year with a 3–2 record.
Catlin returned for the 1908 season. The season opening game against Coe College
set the tone for the season. Two years earlier, Coe protested a game against Iowa. Iowa had won, 15–12, but there was considerable controversy surrounding the win. Iowa trailed late in the game, and Coe officials complained that the timekeeper had given the Hawkeye team extra time to get in position for the game winning score.
The Hawkeyes were determined to leave no doubt this time. They didn't. Iowa won, 92–0. It is still the second largest margin of victory in school history. However, it was a Pyrrhic victory. Five prominent players, including Carroll "Chick" Kirk and Walter "Stub" Stewart, were badly injured and did not regain their effectiveness all year. As a result, Iowa stumbled to a 2-5 record.
Mark Catlin, law degree in hand, left Iowa after the 1908 season. He had a 5–7 record in 1907–1908, and a 2–3 record in 1906. Despite the record, Catlin was a very innovative coach. He introduced the team to the game of handball to develop the team's quickness. He was also one of the first coaches to give his players oxygen when they became winded. In addition to coaching football, Catlin served as Iowa's track and cross country coach for three years from 1906–1908. He left to coach at Lawrence University
.
Catlin stepped away from football following the 1918 season. He served in the Wisconsin State Assembly
from 1921–1923. His son Mark Catlin, Jr.
also served in the Wisconsin State Assembly and was the speaker. After being defeated in the Republican primary in 1922, he returned to his law practice.
Catlin returned to football in 1924 and coached the Vikings to a 4–1–1 record and their second Midwest Conference championship. He coached for three more seasons before leaving Lawrence for good in 1927.
Catlin was a master strategist and psychologist when it came to gridiron tactics. He insisted on skin-tight dark blue jerseys, to make his team look smaller. This was the rough-and-tumble age of football, and Catlin wanted his men to be the toughest.
He allowed minimal padding, and the men wore no shoulder pads or helmets. Catlin once said, "My theory on shoulder pads is that they are unnecessary because nature has provided protection at the vital points."
Catlin earned the moniker "Coach of Champions" during his 14 years as the football coach at Lawrence University. He won five conference championships, and his record of 55–29–7 ranks him third on the school's all-time wins list.
Mark Catlin worked as an attorney until his death of a heart attack in 1956. He was inducted into the Lawrence University Hall of Fame in 2002.
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...
player, track
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
athlete, coach, lawyer, and politician. He served as the head football coach at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
from 1906 to 1908, and at Lawrence University
Lawrence University
Lawrence University is a selective, private liberal arts college with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, in Appleton, Wisconsin. Lawrence University is known for its rigorous academic environment. Founded in 1847, the first classes were held on November 12, 1849...
from 1909 to 1918 and again from 1924 to 1927, compiling a career college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
record of 63–40–7. Catlin played football at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
and also participated in track and field competitions held adjunct to the 1904 Olympic Games. He later worked as an attorney and also served in the Wisconsin State Assembly
Wisconsin State Assembly
The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin....
from 1921 to 1923.
Playing career
Born in Aurora, IllinoisAurora, Illinois
Aurora is the second most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the 112th largest city in the United States. A suburb of Chicago, located west of the Loop, its population in 2010 was 197,899. Originally founded within Kane County, Aurora's city limits have expanded greatly over the past...
, Catlin played football at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
under Amos Alonzo Stagg
Amos Alonzo Stagg
Amos Alonzo Stagg was an American athlete and pioneering college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football...
. He accounted for the only score in Chicago
Chicago Maroons football
The Chicago Maroons are the college football team representing the University of Chicago. The Maroons play in NCAA Division III as a member of the University Athletic Association. From 1892 to 1939, the Maroons were a major college football power...
's 1905 victory over Michigan
1905 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1905 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1905 college football season. The team's head football coach was Fielding H. Yost. The Wolverines played their home games at Regents Field...
by tackling a Wolverine in the end zone for a safety. The Chicago victory broke Michigan’s 56-game unbeaten streak. He earned All-Western Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
honors at the end position, and he was named a second team All-American
1905 College Football All-America Team
The 1905 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams for the 1905 college football season...
.
Catlin was also a brilliant field athlete. Catlin won in the broad jump and high and low hurdles and also competed in the hurdles and discus at the Olympic Collegiate Championships, held in St. Louis in June, before the 1904 Olympics, along with many other competitions that included the word "Olympics" in their title. At this competition he received gold medals in the 120 and 220 yd hurdles and silver in the discus. His time in the 120 yd hurdles (15 3-5s) bested that recorded in the official Olympics (16s). He graduated from Chicago in 1905. 100 years later, Catlin was elected to the University of Chicago's Hall of Fame in 2005.
Iowa
Mark Catlin decided to go to law school at the University of IowaUniversity of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
. Catlin was hired as the heir apparent to John Chalmers
John Chalmers
John George Chalmers was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at Franklin & Marshall College , the University of Iowa , Columbia College in Dubuque, Iowa, now known as Loras College, , and the University of Dubuque , compiling a career college...
as Iowa's head football coach. Catlin spent the 1906 season assisting Chalmers. Although Catlin was actually an assistant coach, many Iowa records consider Catlin, not Chalmers, the official coach of the 1906 Hawkeyes.
The Western Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
meetings of 1905 led to two significant rule changes. Conference members were not allowed to play more than five games per season. Also, freshmen were now ineligible, and players were allowed a maximum of three years of eligibility. These rule changes were made in response to growing criticism over player injuries and deaths during games at that time.
These changes greatly hampered play in 1906. Conference players who were to be seniors were all ruled ineligible, because they had already played three years of competition. Players who were to be freshmen also sat out. Only players who were to be sophomores and juniors were allowed to play.
Iowa finished with a 2–3 record in 1906. Coaches Chalmers and Catlin worked well together but had contrasting coaching styles. Chalmers learned the eastern style of play at Lafayette, coaching players as individuals and devising conservative schemes to maximize their talents. Catlin learned the western style of play from Amos Alonzo Stagg
Amos Alonzo Stagg
Amos Alonzo Stagg was an American athlete and pioneering college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football...
at Chicago, coaching schemes rather than players and advocating an open, aggressive style.
The most notable game of the 1907 season was the "rabbit game" against Wisconsin
Wisconsin Badgers football
The Wisconsin Badgers are a college football program that represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. They play their home games at Camp Randall Stadium, the fourth-oldest stadium in college football...
. After two easy wins to start the season, Iowa held a 5–0 halftime lead over Wisconsin when the two teams lined up for the second half kickoff. A rabbit ran out of Wisconsin's end zone and sprinted 110 yards downfield into Iowa's end zone. Wisconsin returned a punt late in the game for a touchdown, following the path of the rabbit, and gave the Badgers a 6–5 win.
The Hawkeyes were amusingly convinced that it was the rabbit that had jinxed the team. Before their Wednesday practice for the weekend's Illinois
Illinois Fighting Illini football
The Illinois Fighting Illini are a major college football program, representing the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. They compete in NCAA Division I-A and the Big Ten Conference.-Current staff:-All-time win/loss/tie record:*563-513-51...
game, the team had a rabbit hunt. Catlin found and shot the unlucky rabbit, and before the game with Illinois, the members of the Hawkeye team rubbed the dead rabbit's left hind foot for good luck. It must have worked; Iowa won, 25–12. Iowa finished the year with a 3–2 record.
Catlin returned for the 1908 season. The season opening game against Coe College
Coe College
Coe College is a private, four-year, liberal arts college in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Founded in 1851, the institution is historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church . Its current president is James R. Phifer. It is one of the smaller universities to have a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa...
set the tone for the season. Two years earlier, Coe protested a game against Iowa. Iowa had won, 15–12, but there was considerable controversy surrounding the win. Iowa trailed late in the game, and Coe officials complained that the timekeeper had given the Hawkeye team extra time to get in position for the game winning score.
The Hawkeyes were determined to leave no doubt this time. They didn't. Iowa won, 92–0. It is still the second largest margin of victory in school history. However, it was a Pyrrhic victory. Five prominent players, including Carroll "Chick" Kirk and Walter "Stub" Stewart, were badly injured and did not regain their effectiveness all year. As a result, Iowa stumbled to a 2-5 record.
Mark Catlin, law degree in hand, left Iowa after the 1908 season. He had a 5–7 record in 1907–1908, and a 2–3 record in 1906. Despite the record, Catlin was a very innovative coach. He introduced the team to the game of handball to develop the team's quickness. He was also one of the first coaches to give his players oxygen when they became winded. In addition to coaching football, Catlin served as Iowa's track and cross country coach for three years from 1906–1908. He left to coach at Lawrence University
Lawrence University
Lawrence University is a selective, private liberal arts college with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, in Appleton, Wisconsin. Lawrence University is known for its rigorous academic environment. Founded in 1847, the first classes were held on November 12, 1849...
.
Lawrence
Catlin began to make his mark on Lawrence football in 1910, when the Vikings played to a 6–6 tie with Wisconsin. For the next four seasons, Lawrence was the unquestioned powerhouse of small college football in the state. Catlin's teams won four consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate championships from 1911–1914 and gave up just one touchdown to a small college opponent. In that stretch, Lawrence outscored its opponents 485–143.Catlin stepped away from football following the 1918 season. He served in the Wisconsin State Assembly
Wisconsin State Assembly
The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin....
from 1921–1923. His son Mark Catlin, Jr.
Mark Catlin, Jr.
Mark Catlin, Jr. was a Wisconsin Republican politician and legislator.Born in Appleton, Wisconsin, Catlin graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and became a lawyer. His father was the college football coach Mark Catlin, Sr. who was also a lawyer and legislator...
also served in the Wisconsin State Assembly and was the speaker. After being defeated in the Republican primary in 1922, he returned to his law practice.
Catlin returned to football in 1924 and coached the Vikings to a 4–1–1 record and their second Midwest Conference championship. He coached for three more seasons before leaving Lawrence for good in 1927.
Catlin was a master strategist and psychologist when it came to gridiron tactics. He insisted on skin-tight dark blue jerseys, to make his team look smaller. This was the rough-and-tumble age of football, and Catlin wanted his men to be the toughest.
He allowed minimal padding, and the men wore no shoulder pads or helmets. Catlin once said, "My theory on shoulder pads is that they are unnecessary because nature has provided protection at the vital points."
Catlin earned the moniker "Coach of Champions" during his 14 years as the football coach at Lawrence University. He won five conference championships, and his record of 55–29–7 ranks him third on the school's all-time wins list.
Mark Catlin worked as an attorney until his death of a heart attack in 1956. He was inducted into the Lawrence University Hall of Fame in 2002.