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American football player and coach (1896–1951)
Francis Edward Coughlin (February 28, 1896 – September 8, 1951) was an American football player and coach.
During World War I, Coughlin served in the United States Navy aboard a minesweeper.[2] After the war, he played at the collegiate level at the University of Notre Dame. He was named captain of the 1920 football squad[3] after the team's current captain, George Gipp withdrew from the University.
For the 1921 season, Coughlin was named as a player-coach for the Rock Island Independents of the American Professional Football Association, which was renamed the National Football League in 1922.
On October 16, 1921, down 7-0 to the Chicago Cardinals, Coughlin scored two touchdowns to help give the Independents a 14-7 lead in the second quarter. Team owner Walter Flanigan ordered tackle Ed Healey to relieve Coughlin. Once Coughlin was safely on his way toward the sideline, Healey delivered a message to Jimmy Conzelman from Flanigan, it read: "Coughlin was fired! The new coach was Conzelman!" This act marked the first and only time an owner hired a new coach in the middle of a game.[4] Coughlin then spent the rest of the 1921 season playing for the Detroit Tigers and the Green Bay Packers.
In 1923, Coughlin became a prosecutor in St. Joseph County, Indiana. From 1945–1949, he served as the assistant Attorney General of Indiana, under Governors Ralph Gates and Henry Schricker.[2]
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*selected national champion by NCF
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