Anderson, "Eddie" (Edward N.)
Football
b. Nov. 13, 1900, Oskaloosa, IA
d. April 26, 1974
Anderson started at end for Notre Dame from 1918 through 1921 and captained the team in his senior year. Though he was 5-foot-10 and weighed only 150 pounds, Anderson was never knocked off his feet, according to Coach Knute Rockne.
After graduating in 1922, he became coach at Columbia (now Loras) College in Iowa, where his teams won 16 games, lost 6, and tied 2 in three seasons. Anderson went to DePaul University, Chicago, in 1925 and compiled a 21-22-4 record in seven seasons.
During his early years as a coach, he also played five seasons of professional football with the Rochester Jeffersons, Chicago Cardinals, Chicago Bears, and Chicago Bulls, and studied for a degree at Rush Medical College. He received the degree in 1929 and practiced medicine throughout the rest of his long coaching career.
Holy Cross hired Anderson in 1933. He produced two unbeaten teams, in 1935 and 1937, and had a 47-7-4 record in six seasons there. In 1939, he signed a three-year contract with the University of Iowa, which had won just 22 games in nine seasons. His first team won 6 games, including a 7-6 upset of Notre Dame, while losing 1 and tying 1.
During the next three seasons, his teams went 13-13. Anderson served in the U. S. Army Medical Corps from 1943 through 1945, then returned to Iowa and had a 16-19-1 record in four more years there.
Holy Cross re-hired him in 1950, after Iowa refused to give him tenure, and he remained there until his retirement after the 1964 season. In this stint, he won 82 games, lost 60, and tied 4. His 1951 and 1952 teams both won 8 of 10 games.
Overall, Anderson coached 201 victories against 128 losses and 15 ties, a .606 percentage. He was the sixth coach in history to win more than 200 games.