Harry Stuhldreher

Infobox NFL player
Name=Harry Stuhldreher


Caption=
DateOfBirth=birth date|1901|10|14|mf=y
Birthplace=Massillon, Ohio
DateOfDeath=January 26, 1965
Deathplace=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Height_ft=5
Height_in=7
Weight_lbs=151
Position=QB
number=32
College=Notre Dame
DraftedYear=
DraftedRound=
PFR=
DatabaseFootball=
NFL =
ESPN =
SportsIllustrated =
years=1926
teams=Brooklyn (AFL), Brooklyn (NFL)
ProBowls=
CollegeHOF=20040
HOF=

Harry Augustus Stuhldreher (October 14, 1901—January 26, 1965) was a three-time All-American quarterback and member of the legendary Four Horsemen of Notre Dame football backfield of the 1920s.

He was born in Massillon, Ohio, home of the Massillon Tigers professional football team. There is a story, likely apocryphal, that as a boy Stuhldreher carried gear for future University of Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne when the latter was a Tigers star.

Stuhldreher played football for both Massillon Washington High School and The Kiski School in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1921. At Notre Dame he became quarterback in 1922 and in 1924 led the team to a 10-0 record, a 27-10 win over Stanford University in the 1925 Rose Bowl, and a national championship. He was one of the smallest quarterbacks in Notre Dame football history, standing 5' 7" tall and weighing just 151 pounds.

After graduating, he joined fellow member of the Four Horsemen Elmer Layden on the roster of the Brooklyn Horsemen of the first American Football League. After playing only six games of the 1926 season, the Horsemen merged with the National Football League's Brooklyn Lions franchise (which then was renamed the Horsemen). The AFL, the Brooklyn NFL franchise, and Stuhldreher's major league football career all ended with the last game of the season.

Stuhldreher turned to college coaching, initially also moonlighting for independent pro teams on weekends. He served for 11 years as head coach at Villanova University, compiling a 65-25-9 record, and 13 years (1936 to 1948) as head coach and athletic director at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During his tenure, he compiled a 45-62-6 (.425) record, and Wisconsin was twice the Big Ten Conference runner-up under his guidance.

Leaving Wisconsin, Stuhldreher joined U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh in 1950. He died in Pittsburgh of acute pancreatitis and is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Stuhldreher wrote two books, "Quarterback Play" and "Knute Rockne, Man Builder." The latter was a source for the movie Knute Rockne, All American, starring Ronald Reagan as George Gipp. Stuhldreher's wife Mary was also a writer; the couple had four sons. Stuhldreher was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1958.

External links and references

* [http://und.cstv.com/trads/horse.html Four Horsemen page at University of Notre Dame's official site]
* [http://www.collegefootball.org/famersearch.php?id=20040 Harry Stuhldreher page at College Football Hall of Fame site]
* [http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=32&ID=27587&year=2002 2002 article on Harry Stuhldreher by The Repository of Canton, Ohio]
* [http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_year_by_year.php?coachid=2262 Coaching Record]