Slip Madigan

Edward Patrick "Slip" Madigan (born November 18, 1896 in Ottawa, Illinois; died October 10, 1966) was a college football coach, primarily at St. Mary's College. He is enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.

Background

Slip Madigan played college football for Knute Rockne and Notre Dame, playing the center position. After his playing days, he took over a floundering football program at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, California, in 1921. In their final game in 1920, the Gaels had lost to California 127-0. He immediately recruited sixty men and taught them Notre Dame plays and some tricks of his own, including the "forward fumble."

By 1927, Saint Mary's College had developed into one of the strongest football programs on the west coast. They had defeated programs like, USC, UCLA, California, and Stanford. The Stanford team they defeated in 1927 went on to play in the Rose Bowl, as did the USC team they defeated in 1931. Though the school's enrollment seldom exceeded 500, the Galloping Gaels of Saint Mary's became a nationally known football powerhouse.

The most notable win came in 1930, when Saint Mary's traveled to New York to play Fordham University. Fordham was a heavy favorite, as the Rams had won 16 straight games going back to 1928. They featured the first version of a defense known as the "Seven Blocks of Granite," a formidable unit that later would include the likes of Vince Lombardi. Few thought that a tiny west coast school could defeat a team like Fordham. Nevertheless, Saint Mary's recovered from a 12-0 halftime deficit to win, 20-12.

The Gaels was known for their flashy style that reflected the personality of their flamboyant coach. Madigan traveled to New York for the Fordham game with 150 fans on a train that was labelled "the world's longest bar." To stir up publicity for the game, he threw a party the night before and invited not only sportswriters but such celebrities as Babe Ruth and New York mayor Jimmy Walker.

After the 1938 season, Saint Mary's was invited to the Cotton Bowl, where they defeated Texas Tech, 20-13. After the 1939 season, however, the successful and controversial Slip Madigan was fired at Saint Mary's after 19 years of coaching. He had a 117-45-12 record at Saint Mary's. Saint Mary's never again came close to the football success they had under Madigan, and in 2004, the school finally dropped football altogether.

Slip Madigan was also the 16th coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes, where he coached in 1943 and 1944. He was an interim coach for Eddie Anderson, who was serving in World War II. However, the University of Iowa at that time had to share their athletic facilities with a local military academy, and nearly all the able-bodied men in Iowa City found their way into the military school. Madigan's Iowa roster was mostly filled with players with conditions that exempted them from military service.

Madigan actually squeezed some solid performances out of the 1943 Hawkeyes. Though they had a record of just 1-6-1, they played very respectably in losses and played better than their talent level would indicate. As a result, Madigan was retained in 1944. However, the 1944 season was similar to the 1943 season, except the losses were by greater margins. Madigan suggested that he would be finished with coaching at the end of the year, which may have inspired Iowa to a 27-6 victory over Nebraska, but Iowa ended the year with a 1-7 record. Madigan turned down an offer to coach for Iowa again in 1945 and retired for good.

Slip Madigan died in 1966 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1974.

External links

* [http://collegefootball.org/famersearch.php?id=20051 Madigan's Hall of Fame Bio]
* [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2005/11/13/SPG3AFNF9A1.DTL St. Mary's Pulled a Stunner in 1930]