Spears, "Doc" (Clarence W.)
Football
b. July 24, 1894, DeWitt, AR
d. Feb. 1, 1964
Only 5-foot-7, Spears weighed 236 pounds in his playing days at Dartmouth. He was nicknamed "Fat," but he was both fast and powerful. An All-American guard in 1914 and 1915, Spears earned a medical degree after graduating from Dartmouth, but coaching became his profession for nearly twenty years.
He had a 21-9-1 record in four seasons at his alma mater, 1917 through 1920, and then went to the University of West Virginia. His 1922 team was undefeated, winning 10 games and tying 1. Among the victories was West Virginia's first-ever win over Pittsburgh. In four seasons, Spears had a 30-6-3 record.
Spears then went to Minnesota for five seasons. His teams had such a reputation for bruising play that most other Western Conference (Big Ten) schools refused to schedule them. In 1925, Minnesota had only three conference games. The 1927 team was undefeated, winning 6 games and tying 2.
Because of continuing disputes with the school's president and athletic director, Spears left Minnesota for Oregon in 1930. He had a 13-4-2 in two seasons there before going to the University of Wisconsin. His first Wisconsin team went 6-1-1, but had losing records in two of the next three seasons.
Spears retired in 1935 to practice medicine, but he came out of retirement during World War II to coach the University of Maryland in 1943 and 1944. His overall coaching record was 110-57-12.