Ossie Solem
Encyclopedia
Oscar Martin "Ossie" Solem (December 13, 1891 – October 26, 1970) was an American football
player and coach of football and basketball
in the United States. He served as the head football coach at Luther College
in Decorah, Iowa
(1920), Drake University
(1921–1931), the University of Iowa
(1932–1936), Syracuse University
(1937–1945), and Springfield College
(1946–1957), compiling a career college football
record of 162–117–20. From 1913 until 1920, Solem was the head coach of the Minneapolis Marines, prior to that team's entry into the National Football League
. During his time with the Marines, Solem introduced the team to the single-wing formation, developed by the famed coach, Pop Warner
, and used by the University of Minnesota
, where Solem had played football. Solem was also the head basketball coach at Drake University for four seasons from 1921 to 1925, tallying a mark of 37–31.
for Henry L. Williams
from 1910 to 1912. He then began his coaching career, coaching for a pre-NFL
professional football franchise called the Minneapolis Marines. He coached there for three years from 1913 to 1915 before coaching a few years of high school football at East Des Moines High School and South High School of Minneapolis.
Solem began his college coaching career at Luther College
in 1920. After one year there, he was named head coach and athletic director
at Drake University
in Des Moines, Iowa
in 1921. Solem served as Drake's head football coach and athletic director for 11 years from 1921 to 1931. From 1926–1931, he also served as the director of the Drake Relays
.
as the 13th head football coach at the University of Iowa
. He took over an Iowa football program
that had recently been suspended from athletic competition in the Big Ten Conference
for a month. More importantly, the Hawkeye program was suffering from the effects of the Great Depression
. Since Iowa was a predominantly agricultural state, the Depression hit the Hawkeye athletic program particularly hard. The school could not even afford to pay Solem his full salary when he was first hired.
After winning the opening game of the 1932 season, Iowa lost their final seven games of the year. In the off-season, Solem loudly complained that athletes were being discriminated against in Iowa City
and were not being hired for normal student jobs, probably as a result of Iowa's recent conference suspension. An independent investigator substantiated Solem's claims.
Hopes were not high in 1933, but Iowa responded with a 5–3 final record and Hawkeyes quarterback
Joe Laws
was named the Big Ten MVP
. Solem's contract was extended two years, and with the departure of Iowa's athletic director, Solem was appointed to that position as well. Meanwhile, he struggled with a lack of cooperation from fellow Big Ten schools in schedule meetings. Each conference member was supposed to be guaranteed five conference games, but due to Iowa's recent suspension, other Big Ten schools were more accommodating to Notre Dame
, a non-conference school, than they were to the Hawkeyes. Solem fought tirelessly to have Iowa regarded as a member of equal standing within the conference.
After two season opening wins, Iowa failed to win any of its final six games in 1934, and a season that started optimistically ended with a 2–5–1 record. Iowa managed to bounce back the following year with a respectable 4–2–2 record in 1935 behind the play of captain Dick Crayne and the sensational Ozzie Simmons
. After the 1935 season, Solem worked with the president of the university at the time to improve the job situation for athletes in Iowa City. Their reforms helped Solem bring in what Solem called "the finest group of freshmen during my tenure". Many of the athletes Solem successfully recruited to Iowa would become the foundation for the 1939 Hawkeye team
, nicknamed the "Ironmen", which included Nile Kinnick
and Erwin Prasse.
A conflict between Solem and Ozzie Simmons
overshadowed the 1936 season, which ended in a 3–4–1 record. After a 52–0 loss to Minnesota, Simmons quit the team for a couple days. Simmons stated that he felt Solem had been too critical of him for Iowa's failures during the 1936 season. Simmons was convinced to return to the team a few days later.
Before the final game of the season, reports were heard that Solem was leaving at the end of the year. Iowa defeated a heavily favored, nationally ranked Temple team
, coached by Pop Warner
, 25–0, to end Solem's coaching career at Iowa. After the 1936 season, Solem announced he was leaving Iowa for Syracuse University
.
Later, Solem wrote, "I went down to Iowa City for the Iowa-Minnesota game, the first time I had been on the campus since the year after we left Iowa. As I sat there watching the game and admiring the beauty and growth of the campus, recalling the many friends we had in that lovely town, I could not bring myself to have any feeling of dislike or hate, but rather a feeling of regret...and gratefulness for having once been a part of that great institution."
, who went on to coach the Oklahoma Sooners
and win three national championships
. After his time with the Orange, he coached at Springfield College
in Massachusetts
from 1946 to 1957, compiling a 58–33–7 record. Solem coached a total of 37 seasons of college football, with a combined record of 162–117–20 at five schools.
on October 26, 1970.
One of his former players said about Solem, "He was a better offensive coach than he was a defensive coach...He was a fine, clean living man, and he was very well thought of in athletic circles." Former player Ozzie Simmons
remarked, "He probably could have been tougher (on the players), but he was the finest gentleman I've ever been around."
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 and coach of football 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...
in the United States. He served as the head football coach at Luther College
Luther College (Iowa)
Luther College is a four-year, residential liberal arts institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, located in Decorah, Iowa, USA...
in Decorah, Iowa
Decorah, Iowa
Decorah is a city in and the county seat of Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 8,172 at the 2000 census. Decorah is located at the intersection of State Highway 9 and U.S...
(1920), Drake University
Drake University
Drake University is a private, co-educational university located in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The institution offers a number of undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and pharmacy. Today, Drake is one of the twenty-five oldest law schools in the country....
(1921–1931), 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...
(1932–1936), Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
(1937–1945), and Springfield College
Springfield College
Springfield College is a private, coeducational university located in the City of Springfield, Massachusetts. Springfield College is most famous as the site where the sport of basketball was invented...
(1946–1957), 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 162–117–20. From 1913 until 1920, Solem was the head coach of the Minneapolis Marines, prior to that team's entry into the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. During his time with the Marines, Solem introduced the team to the single-wing formation, developed by the famed coach, Pop Warner
Glenn Scobey Warner
Glenn Scobey Warner , most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American football player and coach...
, and used by the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
, where Solem had played football. Solem was also the head basketball coach at Drake University for four seasons from 1921 to 1925, tallying a mark of 37–31.
Playing and early coaching career
Solem played end at the University of MinnesotaUniversity of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
for Henry L. Williams
Henry L. Williams
Dr. Henry Lane Williams was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the United States Military Academy in 1891 and the University of Minnesota from 1900 to 1921, compiling a career college football record of 141–34–12...
from 1910 to 1912. He then began his coaching career, coaching for a pre-NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
professional football franchise called the Minneapolis Marines. He coached there for three years from 1913 to 1915 before coaching a few years of high school football at East Des Moines High School and South High School of Minneapolis.
Solem began his college coaching career at Luther College
Luther College (Iowa)
Luther College is a four-year, residential liberal arts institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, located in Decorah, Iowa, USA...
in 1920. After one year there, he was named head coach and athletic director
Athletic director
An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...
at Drake University
Drake University
Drake University is a private, co-educational university located in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The institution offers a number of undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and pharmacy. Today, Drake is one of the twenty-five oldest law schools in the country....
in Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
in 1921. Solem served as Drake's head football coach and athletic director for 11 years from 1921 to 1931. From 1926–1931, he also served as the director of the Drake Relays
Drake Relays
The Drake Relays is an annual outdoor track and field event held in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, in Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University...
.
Coaching career at Iowa
In 1932, Solem signed a three year contract to succeed Burt IngwersenBurt Ingwersen
Burton Aherns Ingwersen was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach of football and baseball. He served as the head football coach at the University of Iowa from 1924 to 1931, compiling a career college football record of 33–27–4...
as the 13th 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...
. He took over an Iowa football program
Iowa Hawkeyes football
The Iowa Hawkeyes football team is the interscholastic football team at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have competed in the Big Ten Conference since 1900, and are currently a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
that had recently been suspended from athletic competition in the Big Ten 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...
for a month. More importantly, the Hawkeye program was suffering from the effects of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. Since Iowa was a predominantly agricultural state, the Depression hit the Hawkeye athletic program particularly hard. The school could not even afford to pay Solem his full salary when he was first hired.
After winning the opening game of the 1932 season, Iowa lost their final seven games of the year. In the off-season, Solem loudly complained that athletes were being discriminated against in Iowa City
Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, State of Iowa. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of about 67,862, making it the sixth-largest city in the state. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa...
and were not being hired for normal student jobs, probably as a result of Iowa's recent conference suspension. An independent investigator substantiated Solem's claims.
Hopes were not high in 1933, but Iowa responded with a 5–3 final record and Hawkeyes quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
Joe Laws
Joe Laws
Joe Laws was an American football player. He played his entire career with the Green Bay Packers, winning three World Championships, and was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1972. Prior to joining the Packers, Laws attended the University of Iowa where he was a member of the...
was named the Big Ten MVP
Chicago Tribune Silver Football
The Chicago Tribune Silver Football is awarded by the Chicago Tribune to the college football player determined to be the best player from the Big Ten Conference. The award has been presented annually since 1924, when Red Grange of Illinois was the award's first recipient.The winner of the Silver...
. Solem's contract was extended two years, and with the departure of Iowa's athletic director, Solem was appointed to that position as well. Meanwhile, he struggled with a lack of cooperation from fellow Big Ten schools in schedule meetings. Each conference member was supposed to be guaranteed five conference games, but due to Iowa's recent suspension, other Big Ten schools were more accommodating to Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
, a non-conference school, than they were to the Hawkeyes. Solem fought tirelessly to have Iowa regarded as a member of equal standing within the conference.
After two season opening wins, Iowa failed to win any of its final six games in 1934, and a season that started optimistically ended with a 2–5–1 record. Iowa managed to bounce back the following year with a respectable 4–2–2 record in 1935 behind the play of captain Dick Crayne and the sensational Ozzie Simmons
Ozzie Simmons
Oze E. "Ozzie" Simmons was a college football player for the University of Iowa. Simmons, nicknamed the "Ebony Eel", was one of the first black All-American football players in the 1930s.-Background:...
. After the 1935 season, Solem worked with the president of the university at the time to improve the job situation for athletes in Iowa City. Their reforms helped Solem bring in what Solem called "the finest group of freshmen during my tenure". Many of the athletes Solem successfully recruited to Iowa would become the foundation for the 1939 Hawkeye team
1939 Iowa Hawkeyes football team
The 1939 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the college football season of 1939. The team, nicknamed the Ironmen, was coached by Dr. Eddie Anderson and was led on the field by halfback Nile Kinnick.-Preseason:...
, nicknamed the "Ironmen", which included Nile Kinnick
Nile Kinnick
Nile Clarke Kinnick, Jr. was a student and a college football player at the University of Iowa. He won the 1939 Heisman Trophy and was a consensus All-American. He died during a training flight while serving as a U.S Navy aviator in World War II...
and Erwin Prasse.
A conflict between Solem and Ozzie Simmons
Ozzie Simmons
Oze E. "Ozzie" Simmons was a college football player for the University of Iowa. Simmons, nicknamed the "Ebony Eel", was one of the first black All-American football players in the 1930s.-Background:...
overshadowed the 1936 season, which ended in a 3–4–1 record. After a 52–0 loss to Minnesota, Simmons quit the team for a couple days. Simmons stated that he felt Solem had been too critical of him for Iowa's failures during the 1936 season. Simmons was convinced to return to the team a few days later.
Before the final game of the season, reports were heard that Solem was leaving at the end of the year. Iowa defeated a heavily favored, nationally ranked Temple team
Temple Owls football
The Temple Owls football team participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the East Division of the Mid-American Conference...
, coached by Pop Warner
Glenn Scobey Warner
Glenn Scobey Warner , most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American football player and coach...
, 25–0, to end Solem's coaching career at Iowa. After the 1936 season, Solem announced he was leaving Iowa for Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
.
Later, Solem wrote, "I went down to Iowa City for the Iowa-Minnesota game, the first time I had been on the campus since the year after we left Iowa. As I sat there watching the game and admiring the beauty and growth of the campus, recalling the many friends we had in that lovely town, I could not bring myself to have any feeling of dislike or hate, but rather a feeling of regret...and gratefulness for having once been a part of that great institution."
Later coaching career
Solem coached at Syracuse from 1937 to 1945. During his time at Syracuse, he tutored a young assistant coach named Bud WilkinsonBud Wilkinson
Charles Burnham "Bud" Wilkinson was an American football player, coach, broadcaster, and politician. He served as the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1947 to 1963, compiling a record of 145–29–4. His Oklahoma Sooners won three national championships and 14...
, who went on to coach the Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma Sooners football
The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma . The team is currently a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
and win three national championships
NCAA Division I FBS National Football Championship
A college football national championship in the highest level of collegiate play in the United States, currently the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , is a designation awarded annually by various third-party organizations to their selection of the best...
. After his time with the Orange, he coached at Springfield College
Springfield College
Springfield College is a private, coeducational university located in the City of Springfield, Massachusetts. Springfield College is most famous as the site where the sport of basketball was invented...
in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
from 1946 to 1957, compiling a 58–33–7 record. Solem coached a total of 37 seasons of college football, with a combined record of 162–117–20 at five schools.
Death and legacy
Solem died at a hospital in Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
on October 26, 1970.
One of his former players said about Solem, "He was a better offensive coach than he was a defensive coach...He was a fine, clean living man, and he was very well thought of in athletic circles." Former player Ozzie Simmons
Ozzie Simmons
Oze E. "Ozzie" Simmons was a college football player for the University of Iowa. Simmons, nicknamed the "Ebony Eel", was one of the first black All-American football players in the 1930s.-Background:...
remarked, "He probably could have been tougher (on the players), but he was the finest gentleman I've ever been around."
Professional football
College football
External links
- Ossie Solem at College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com