Schwartzwalder, "Ben" (Floyd B.)
Football
b. June 2, 1909, Point Pleasant, WV
d. April 28, 1993
A center at the University of West Virginia, Schwartzwalder coached high school football after graduating in 1933 and then served as a paratrooper during World II.
He became head coach at Muhlenberg College in 1946 and had a 25-5-0 record in 3 seasons there, including a victory over St. Bonaventure University in the 1946 Tobacco Bowl.
Schwartzwalder went to Syracuse University in 1949 to revive a moribund program. He was soon successful, producing a 7-2-0 team in 1952 and the school's first bowl bid. However, Alabama devastated Syracuse 61-6 in the Orange Bowl.
In 1959, the American Football Coaches Association named Schwartzwalder coach of the year for producing a national champion with 10-0-0 regular season record. That team gave Schwartzwalder his first bowl victory in four appearances, beating Texas 23-14 in the Cotton Bowl.
Schwartzwalder's successful teams always featured a strong running attack, with talented backs behind a powerful offensive line. Among the outstanding runners he produced were Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Floyd Little, Jim Nance, and Larry Csonka.
A group of nine black players boycotted spring practice in 1970 to protest what they felt was inequitable treatment. They demanded better medical treatment for injured players, academic support for black players as well as white players, integration of what was then an all-white coaching staff, and an end to the unwritten quota system that allowed only one black player to be a starter in the offensive backfield.
Schwartzwalder did hire a black assistant, although he said the hiring had nothing to do with the player demands. Despite an attempt by Jim Brown to mediate, Schwartzwalder refused to do anything about the other demands, and suspended the players. Four of them were reinstated for the opening game against Kansas that fall, but only two ever played football for Syracuse again.
Partly because of that problem, Schwartzwalder was forced out of his job after the 1973 season. In 25 seasons at Syracuse, he had a 153-93-3 record and he was 178-96-3 overall.