Carl S. Williams

Carl Sheldon "Cap" Williams (May 16, 1872 – November 8, 1960) was an American football player, coach, and ophthalmologist. He played college football at Oberlin College and the University of Pennsylvania during the 1890s. He returned to Penn and served as the head football coach there from 1902 to 1907, compiling a record of 60–10–4. His Penn Quakers teams of 1904 and 1907 have been recognized as national champions. Williams later practiced ophthalmology for many years in Philadelphia.

Carl S. Williams
Biographical details
Born(1872-05-16)May 16, 1872
Chatham, Ohio, U.S.
DiedNovember 8, 1960(1960-11-08) (aged 88)
near Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Playing career
1891–1892Oberlin
1893–1895Penn
1897Orange AC
1898–1899Duquesne C&AC
Position(s)Quarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1902–1907Penn
Head coaching record
Overall60–10–4
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
2 National (1904, 1907)

Early life and education

William was born on May 16, 1872, in Chatham, Ohio.[1] A Wellington, Ohio native, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1894 with a Bachelor of Science and a medical degree in 1897.[2]

Playing career

Oberlin

Williams played at Oberlin College in 1891 and 1892. The 1891 Yeomen played without a paid coach and went 2–2. The next year Williams was named captain.[3] This team was coached by John Heisman. The Yeomen finished the season undefeated including a season opening victory over Ohio State. Williams scored the first touchdown early in the game which would become a 40–0 route of the Buckeyes.[4] During that season the Yeomen also claimed a second victory over the Buckeyes and a victory over the Michigan but both schools dispute this.[3]

Penn

On Heisman's advice, Williams transferred to his coach's former school, the University of Pennsylvania.[5] He lettered three seasons at quarterback for the Red and Blue under renowned coach George Washington Woodruff.[6] At the time Williams played quarterback under Woodruff, the forward pass was illegal. To advance the ball down the field, Woodruff coached his quarterback to "pass the ball with his foot." The rules at the time were that anybody that kicked the ball or anybody behind the kicker was allowed to recover the ball and retain possession. Williams was able to place his kicks with great accuracy allow Penn to recover for a first down.[7]

1893 season

In his first year as quarterback, he helped the 1893 Quakers to a 12–3 record. The team started strong by winning the first 11 game. In those 11 games the defense only gave up 18 points while the offence scored 305 points. The season collapsed in last four games when Penn lost three out of the last four games to Harvard, Yale and Princeton.[8] At the time Penn rarely beat these three schools. All of the games were close and in losing the game 14–6 to Yale, Penn was able to score a moral victory by scoring. Yale had been un-scored on for 35 straight games stretching from 1890, successively scoring 1,355 unanswered points.[9]

1894 season

In 1894 Williams helped Penn to its first undefeated season. The 1894 team was retroactively named national champions by Parke H. Davis though Yale and Princeton were also retroactively named national champions by other organizations. The highlight of the season was a 12–0 victory over Princeton (only the second in 30 meetings) and an 18–4 victory over Harvard.[10] The 1894 squad featured a talented backfield that consisted of Williams, Alden Knipe (halfback), George H. Brooke (fullback) and Winchester Osgood (halfback).[11]

1895 season

Williams was elected captain of the Penn's 1895 team and was named an All American that year.[12] As captain, he led Penn to another undefeated (14-0) seasons and a second-consecutive retroactive national title.[12]

Helping Heisman

Other than the two undefeated seasons, Williams may is best known for being instrumental in getting John Heisman back into coaching. Before the 1895 season, Walter Riggs a graduate manager for the Auburn Tigers football team, wrote to Williams asking the Penn captain to suggest a suitable coach. He recommended his former coach at Oberlin, who at the time was a tomato farmer in Texas. Auburn hired Heisman, who went on to Hall of Fame career.[13]

Athletic clubs

Williams continued playing football after college, as quarterback for the Orange Athletic Club in 1897[14] and the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club in 1898 and 1899.[15][16]

Coaching career
Penn Game from 1904 national championship season

In 1902 Williams succeeded his former coach, George W. Woodruff, at the University of Pennsylvania. When Williams first arrived he had to deal with a team and athletic department recovering from an undergraduate and dental student revolt that led to Woodruff to resign. The students were dissatisfied with the team's performance in the 1901 season and demanded more undergraduate say in athletic department and coaching. At the time the Athletic Association's board of directors was controlled by graduate and professional students.[17] To protest Woodruff resignation all of Penn's graduate coaches resigned. Williams introduced a coaching system in which he served as head coach while being aided by a group of other alumni who served as assistant coaches. This system reduced the damage any one coach or assistant coach had to leave the team.[18] He quickly rebuilt the Quakers and led them to two retroactive national titles in 1904 and 1907. In just his third season as head coach, Williams and Penn posted a 12–0 record and the program's fourth national crown. This Quakers squad has a dominating Defense that only allowed 0.3 points a game with Swarthmore the only school to score on them that season.[12] The next year Williams led Penn to the second-straight undefeated season posting a 12–0–1 mark. Once again defense dominated with seven shutouts.[19] Penn's fifth and Williams second (as a coach) retroactive national title came after an 11–1 campaign in his last year at the helm of the Quakers.[12] He was replaced the season by Sol Metzger for the 1908 season. He finished his coaching career 60–10–4 record.

Medical career and death

Williams earned degrees in ophthalmology the University of Heidelberg and London's Royal Ophthalmic College. He practiced ophthalmology for many years in Philadelphia, serving on the staff at Chesnut Hill Hospital, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and Georgetown Hospital. During World War I, Williams served as a captain in the Air Medical Corps, and later rose to the rank of major in the Army Medical Reserve Corps.[1] He died on November 8, 1960, at the age of 88 near Pennsburg, Pennsylvania.[20]

Head coaching record
Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Penn Quakers (Independent) (1902–1907)
1902 Penn 9–4
1903 Penn 9–3
1904 Penn 12–0
1905 Penn 12–0–1
1906 Penn 7–2–3
1907 Penn 11–1
Penn: 60–10–4
Total:60–10–4
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

Note: Before 1936, national champions were determined by historical research and retroactive ratings and polls.
1907 poll results = Penn: Billingsley and Yale: Helms, National Championship Foundation, Parke H. Davis
1904 poll results = Penn: Helms, National Championship Foundation, Parke H. Davis and Michigan: Billingsley, National Championship Foundation

References
  1. Cowan, Alfred (1961). "CARL SHELDON WILLIAMS, m.d." Transactions of the American Ophthalmological Society. 59: 17–18. PMC 1316396.
  2. Nat Brandt, "When Oberlin Was King of the Gridiron – The Heisman Years," (Kent State University Press, 2001), p. 185, ISBN 0-87338-684-1.
  3. Nat Brandt, p. 177
  4. Nat Brandt, p. 71
  5. Nat Brandt, p. 93
  6. 2006 University of Pennsylvania Football Media Guide Archived 2019-01-03 at the Wayback Machine, p. 145, accessed 1-18-2007
  7. Allison Danzig, "Oh, How They Played the Game," (The Macmillan Company, 1971), p. 113, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 73-163227
  8. 2006 University of Pennsylvania Football Media Guide, p. 123,
  9. Scott A. McQuilkin and Ronald A. Smith, "The Rise and Fall of the Flying Wedge: Football's Most Controversial Play" Journal of Sport History, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Spring 1993), accessed 2-4-2007
  10. 2006 University of Pennsylvania Football Media Guide, p. 137
  11. Allison Danzig, p. 114
  12. 2006 University of Pennsylvania Football Media Guide, p. 15
  13. 2006 Clemson University Football Media Guide Archived October 28, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, p. 170, accessed 1-18-2007
  14. "Orange Beats Elizabeth". The Sun. New York. November 26, 1897. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "In the Football World". The Sun. New York. October 16, 1898. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Athletics". The Pittsburg Press. April 30, 1900. p. 5.
  17. Nicholas Gutowski, "Penn Football in the 1800s, Varsity team history, Movement Towards Change and Authority Response: 1901, November 12th - 25th," Archived 2007-01-01 at the Wayback Machine (University of Pennsylvania archives)
  18. Nicholas Gutowski, "Penn Football in the 1800s, Varsity team history, Change: 1901, November 26th - December 3rd," (University of Pennsylvania archives)
  19. 2006 University of Pennsylvania Football Media Guide, p. 120
  20. UPI (November 10, 1960). "DR. CARL WILLIAMS DIES; Eye Specialist Was 1890s Football Star at Penn" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
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