Cavanaugh, Frank W.
Football
b. April 28, 1876, Worcester, MA
d. Aug. 29, 1933
An end at Dartmouth, Cavanaugh graduated in 1898 and coached the University of Cincinnati to 5 wins, 1 loss, and 3 ties that fall. Among the victories was a 17-14 upset of his alma mater. He was player-coach of the Denver Athletic Club amateur team for the next four seasons, then returned to his native Worcester, MA, in 1903 as head coach at Holy Cross.
In three seasons there, his teams won 16 games while losing 10 and tying 2. Cavanaugh left in 1906 and practiced law for four years, working part-time as a coach at Worcester Academy in 1909 and 1910, and he then returned to Dartmouth as head coach in 1911.
He had six winning seasons at Dartmouth, compiling a 42-9-3 record, before leaving to serve as a major during World War I. Severely wounded by shrapnel, he was blind for a time, but survived his injuries and won his nickname, the "Iron Major."
Cavanaugh returned from the service to coach Boston College in 1919. His 1920 team won all 8 of its games and he had a 48-14-5 record in eight seasons before going to Fordham in 1927. One trademark of Cavanaugh's teams was strong defense, epitomized by the 1929 and 1930 Fordham lines that gave up just one rushing touchdown in eighteen games. They became known as the "Seven Blocks of Granite," a nickname that was revived for the 1936 and 1937 Fordham lines.
Although he was listed as head coach in 1932, Cavanaugh was nearly blind, an aftermath of his war injuries, and the coaching was actually done by his assistant, William P. "Hiker" Joy. However, Cavanaugh did come to all the team's practices and was on the sidelines for every game. He died shortly before the 1938 season began.
A genuine innovator, Cavanaugh is credited with inventing the spot pass to a hooking end and he used the T formation with a man in motion as early as 1929, eleven years before Clark Shaughnessy introduced that formation at Stanford.
Pat O'Brien starred as Cavanaugh in a 1943 movie biography, "The Iron Major."