Adam Walsh (American football)

American football player and coach (1901–1985)

Adam Walsh

Biographical details
Born| (1901-12-04)December 4, 1901
Churchville, Iowa, U.S.
Died| January 13, 1985(1985-01-13) (aged 83)
Westwood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Playing career
1922–1924| Notre Dame
Position(s)| Center
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1925–1928| Santa Clara
1929–1933| Yale (line)
1934| Harvard (line)
1935–1942| Bowdoin
1944| Harvard (line)
1945–1946| Cleveland/LA Rams
1947–1958| Bowdoin
Head coaching record
Overall| 80–85–11 (college)
15–5–1 (NFL)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
As coach:

* NFL (1945)
* 11 MIAA (1935–1940, 1942, 1948–1950, 1952)

As player:

* National (1924)

Awards

* Second-team All-American (1924)

College Football Hall of Fame
Inducted in 1968 (profile)

Adam Walsh (December 4, 1901 – January 13, 1985) was an American football player and coach. He played college football as a center at the University of Notre Dame where he was an All-American and captain of the 1924 team under Knute Rockne. Walsh then served as the head football coach at Santa Clara University from 1925 to 1928 and at Bowdoin College from 1935 to 1942 and again from 1947 to 1958, compiling a career college football record of 80–85–11. He also coached the Cleveland / Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL) in 1945 and 1946, tallying a mark of 15–5–1. Walsh was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1968.

## Playing career

[edit]

Walsh was an outstanding athlete at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles, and earned varsity letters in basketball, track, and football at the University of Notre Dame. Walsh was an All-American center and captain of the 1924 Notre Dame football team under head coach Knute Rockne. Walsh anchored the team's offensive line, dubbed the "Seven Mules," who blocked for the famed "Four Horsemen" backfield. The 1924 team completed an undefeated season with a win over Stanford in the Rose Bowl. Walsh played every minute of the game against Army in 1924 with two broken hands, never missed a single snap of the ball, was involved in 75 percent of the tackles on defense, and intercepted a pass in the final minutes of the game to preserve a Notre Dame victory. He remains the offensive center on the All-time Notre Dame Team.[1]

## Coaching career

[edit]

Walsh served as head football coach and athletic director at Santa Clara University from 1925 to 1928. He then spent five seasons as the line coach at Yale University, and one season at Harvard University in the same capacity. In 1935, Walsh accepted the head coaching position at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. Though Bowdoin had been winless the prior year, Walsh began his 20-year coaching career at the college with a state championship. His teams won or tied for the Maine championship in seven of his first eight years at Bowdoin.

Bowdoin suspended their football program in 1943 with the onset of World War II. In 1944, Walsh returned to Notre Dame as a line coach for a season. In 1945, he led the Cleveland Rams to the NFL Championship and coached the team the next season after a move to Los Angeles. He returned to Bowdoin after two years with the Rams and a 15–5–1 coaching record in the NFL. Between 1947 and 1958, Walsh's Bowdoin teams won outright or shared the Maine state championship four more times.

## Later life and honors

[edit]

After retiring from coaching, Walsh served two terms in the Maine House of Representatives, representing Brunswick as a Democrat and was appointed the U.S. Marshal for Maine under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.

Walsh was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1968, the Helms Hall of Fame, and the Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1976. He was also named to the All-Time Southern California High School Team, the All-time Notre Dame Team, and the All-time Rose Bowl Team.

## Head coaching record

[edit]

### College

[edit]

Year  | Team  | Overall  | Conference | Standing  | Bowl/playoffs

|
|
|
|
|

Santa Clara Broncos (Independent) (1925–1928)
1925 | Santa Clara | 2–5 |  |  |
1926 | Santa Clara | 5–4 |  |  |
1927 | Santa Clara | 5–4–2 |  |  |
1928 | Santa Clara | 5–4 |  |  |
Santa Clara: | 17–18–2 |  |
Bowdoin Polar Bears (Maine Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1935–1942)
1935 | Bowdoin  | 5–1–1 |  | 1st |
1936 | Bowdoin  | 5–2 |  | 1st |
1937 | Bowdoin  | 4–1–2 |  | 1st |
1938 | Bowdoin  | 6–1 |  | T–st |
1939 | Bowdoin  | 5–1–1 |  | T–1st |
1940 | Bowdoin  | 3–2–2 |  | T–1st |
1941 | Bowdoin  | 1–6 |  |  |
1942 | Bowdoin  | 5–2 |  | 1st |
Bowdoin Polar Bears (Maine Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1947–1958)
1947 | Bowdoin  | 3–4 |  |  |
1948 | Bowdoin  | 4–3 |  | T–1st |
1949 | Bowdoin  | 3–3–1 |  | 1st |
1950 | Bowdoin  | 3–3–1 |  | T–st |
1951 | Bowdoin  | 5–2 |  |  |
1952 | Bowdoin  | 5–2 |  | 1st |
1953 | Bowdoin  | 4–3 |  |  |
1954 | Bowdoin  | 0–7 |  |  |
1955 | Bowdoin  | 1–6 |  |  |
1956 | Bowdoin  | 0–7 |  |  |
1957 | Bowdoin  | 1–5 |  |  |
1958 | Bowdoin  | 0–6–1 |  |  |
Bowdoin: | 63–67–9 |  |
Total: | 80–85–11 |
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth

### NFL

[edit]

Team | Year | Regular Season | Post Season

|
|
|

Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result
CLE | 1945 | 9 | 1 | 0 | .900 | 1st in NFL West | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | NFL Champions
LA | 1946 | 6 | 4 | 1 | .600 | 2nd in NFL West | – | – | – | –
Total | 15 | 5 | 1 | .750 |  | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Somogyi, Lou (September 11, 2006). "The All-time Notre Dame Team". Sports Illustrated. Time Inc. Retrieved August 5, 2010.

## External links

[edit]

* Adam Walsh at the College Football Hall of Fame
* Adam Walsh at Find a Grave

Links to related articles

* v
* t
* e

Santa Clara Broncos athletic directors

* Eddie Kienholz (1923–1925)
* Adam Walsh (1925–1928)
* George Barsi (1946)
* Dennis A. Heenan (1947–1953)
* Bob Feerick (1954–1961)
* James E. Sweeters (1961–1964)
* Pat Malley (1965–1985)
* Tom O'Connor (1986–1992)
* Carroll Williams (1992–2000)
* Cheryl L. Levick (2000–2004)
* Dan Coonan (2004–2015)
* Renee Baumgartner (2015– )

* v
* t
* e

Santa Clara Broncos head football coaches

* Unknown (1896)
* No team (1897)
* No coach (1898)
* No team (1899–1901)
* Gene Sheehy (1902–1905)
* No team (1906)
* William H. Howard (1907)
* No team (1908)
* Harry Renwick (1909)
* No coach (1910–1911)
* Pat Higgins (1912–1914)
* No team (1915)
* Charles A. Austin (1916)
* Austin Mandershed & Walter Mandershed (1917)
* No team (1918)
* Robert E. Harmon (1919–1920)
* Harry Buckingham (1921–1922)
* Eddie Kienholz (1923–1924)
* Adam Walsh (1925–1928)
* Maurice J. "Clipper" Smith (1929–1935)
* Buck Shaw (1936–1942)
* No team (1943–1945)
* Len Casanova (1946–1949)
* Richard F. Gallagher (1950–1952)
* No team (1953–1958)
* Pat Malley (1959–1984)
* Terry Malley (1985–1992)

* v
* t
* e

Bowdoin Polar Bears head football coaches

* Unknown (1889–1890)
* Pearl T. Haskell (1891)
* Frank N. Whittier (1892–1893)
* Warren R. Smith (1894)
* William C. Mackie (1895)
* William Hoag (1896)
* William C. Mackie (1896)
* Prescott Warren (1897)
* David C. MacAndrew (1898)
* William M. Richards (1898)
* Fred Crolius (1899)
* James G. Lathrop (1900)
* Harry Howard Cloudman (1901)
* John C. O'Connor (1902–1903)
* Roscoe P. McClave (1904–1909)
* Frank Bergin (1910–1912)
* Thomas A. McCann (1913–1914)
* Thomas J. Campbell (1915)
* Albert J. Weatherhead Jr. (1916)
* Jack Magee (1917–1918)
* Roger A. Greene (1919–1920)
* Frederick V. Ostergren (1921–1924)
* John M. Cates (1925–1926)
* Malcolm E. Morrell (1927–1929)
* Charley Bowser (1930–1934)
* Adam Walsh (1935–1942)
* No team (1943–1945)
* Adam Walsh (1947–1958)
* Charles Nelson Corey (1959–1964)
* Peter Kostacopoulos (1965–1967)
* James S. Lentz (1968–1983)
* Howard S. Vandersea (1984–1999)
* Dave Caputi (2000–2014)
* J. B. Wells (2015–2018)
* B. J. Hammer (2019)
* No team (2020)
* B. J. Hammer (2021– )

* v
* t
* e

Los Angeles Rams head coaches

Formerly the Cleveland Rams (1936–1945) and St. Louis Rams (1995–2015)

* Damon Wetzel (1936)
* Hugo Bezdek (1937–1938)
* Art Lewis # (1938)
* Dutch Clark (1939–1942)
* No team (1943)
* Aldo Donelli (1944)
* Adam Walsh (1945–1946)
* Bob Snyder (1947)
* Clark Shaughnessy (1948–1949)
* Joe Stydahar (1950–1952)
* Hamp Pool (1952–1954)
* Sid Gillman (1955–1959)
* Bob Waterfield (1960–1962)
* Harland Svare (1962–1965)
* George Allen (1966–1970)
* Tommy Prothro (1971–1972)
* Chuck Knox (1973–1977)
* Ray Malavasi (1978–1982)
* John Robinson (1983–1991)
* Chuck Knox (1992–1994)
* Rich Brooks (1995–1996)
* Dick Vermeil (1997–1999)
* Mike Martz (2000–2005)
* Joe Vitt # (2005)
* Scott Linehan (2006–2008)
* Jim Haslett # (2008)
* Steve Spagnuolo (2009–2011)
* Jeff Fisher (2012–2016)
* John Fassel # (2016)
* Sean McVay (2017–present)

# denotes interim head coach

* v
* t
* e

1924 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football—national champions

* Four Horsemen: 5 Elmer Layden
* 16 Don Miller
* 18 Jim Crowley
* 32 Harry Stuhldreher

* Seven Mules: 4 Adam Walsh
* 64 Edgar Miller
* Joe Bach
* Chuck Collins
* Ed Hunsinger
* Noble Kizer
* John Weibel

* Other players: Joe Boland
* Clem Crowe
* Wilbur Eaton
* Vincent F. Harrington
* Tom Hearden
* Max Houser

* Head coach: Knute Rockne

* Assistant coaches: George Keogan
* Tom Lieb
* George Vergara

* v
* t
* e

Cleveland Rams 1945 NFL champions

* Graham Armstrong
* Jim Benton
* Dave Bernard
* Gil Bouley
* Tommy Colella
* Bob deLauer
* Roger Eason
* Fred Gehrke
* Jim Gillette
* Don Greenwood
* Ray Hamilton
* Roger Harding
* Red Hickey
* Jack Jacobs
* Harvey Jones
* George Koch
* Floyd Konetsky
* Mike Lazetich
* Les Lear
* Butch Levy
* Sonny Liles
* Riley Matheson
* Art Mergenthal
* Ray Monaco
* Rudy Mucha
* Steve Nemeth
* George Phillips
* Steve Pritko
* Albie Reisz
* Bill Rieth
* Ralph Ruthstrom
* Mo Scarry
* Eberle Schultz
* Bob Shaw
* Rudy Sikich
* Bob Waterfield (NFL MVP)
* Pat West
* Joe Winkler
* Jim Worden
* Walt Zirinsky

Head coach: Adam Walsh

Owner: Dan Reeves
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