Frederick E. Schacht ( – December 1, 1906) was an American college football coach, player, and medical doctor. He served as the head football coach at Kentucky State College—now known as the University of Kentucky—from 1904 to 1905, compiling a record of 15–4–1.
Early life and college A native of Minneapolis, Schacht joined the United States Army during the Spanish–American War and served with the 13th Minnesota Volunteers.The Gopher: Annual Publication of the Student Body of the University of Minnesota, Volume 16, p. 114, University of Minnesota, 1902. He then attended the University of Minnesota, and was initiated as a member of the Nu Sigma Nu professional medical fraternity on March 9, 1901. He played on the football team as a tackle in 1903,2008 Minnesota Football Media Guide, p. 179, University of Minnesota, 2008. and the 216-pound Schacht was reportedly "a terror on offense." He starred in Minnesota's 1903 victory over Wisconsin, but gained his greatest acclaim for his role in that season's game against Michigan. Schacht broke three ribs shortly before the game, but refused to go to the hospital and showed up beforehand with his body "encased in a steel harness." Despite the broken ribs, he carried the ball three times for 40-, 50- and 60-yard gains after the kickoff. The contest ended in a tie, which made it the first game Michigan had not won in three years, with Schacht being "hailed throughout the west as the greatest tackle of a decade." After the season, he was named to several All-America teams: Caspar Whitney's first team,"Syracuse Gets No Place: Not Included In Caspar Whitney's Ranking Of Football Elevens", The Evening Herald, December 27, 1903 Walter Camp's second team,"Walter Camp Names All American Team", The Trenton Times, December 10, 1903 and Fielding H. Yost's second team."Picked Football Teams", Grand Traverse Herald, December 3, 1903 Schacht received a Doctor of Medicine degree from Minnesota in 1903.
University of Kentucky At graduation, he worked at the City Hospital in Minneapolis.Nu Sigma Nu in 1903, p. 105, Nu Sigma Nu, 1903. Within a year Schacht soon moved to Fergus Falls, Minnesota.Northwestern Lancet, Volume 24, p. 116, 1904. From 1904 to 1905, he served as the head football coach at the University of Kentucky. During the first year of his tenure, a controversy erupted before the Thanksgiving Day game against bitter cross-town rival Transylvania University. Kentucky protested the eligibility of several Transylvania players, which prompted Professor A. P. Fairhurst of the opponent's athletic committee to pen an article in the Lexington Herald titled "Shut Up and Play Ball". In it, he sarcastically wrote that Transylvania would allow Kentucky to draw players "from the four quarters of the earth and from the fifth quarter if you can find it gather them from all the tribes and kindred of the earth ... Hottentots, Flat-head Indians, Patagonians, Native Australians, Esquimaux, New Yorkers, Danvillians, Cincinnatians, Hoodoos, Burgoos, Whatnots, Topnots ... the more the merrier". Gregory Kent Stanley, Before Big Blue: Sports at the University of Kentucky, 1880–1940, pp. 31–36, University Press of Kentucky, 1996, . The next day, the Herald published an article from the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Association titled "Protests Erased From Slate—Game Will Be Played" in which it declared the Transylvania players eligible. Kentucky won the game easily, 21–4.
Kentucky struggled the following season, and was shut out, 82–0, by Saint Louis. Controversy arose prior to the Thanksgiving rivalry against Transylvania when Kentucky again protested the eligibility of some opposing players. This time, however, neither school could come to an agreement, and the game was cancelled altogether. Transylvania scheduled Ohio Wesleyan instead, while Kentucky held elections for the next year's team captains and disbanded for the season. Kentucky amassed a 15–4–1 record during his tenure.Fred Sweet Records by Year , College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
Later life On November 26, 1904, he married Sophia Gloria née Weise in St. Louis, Missouri.New York Medical Journal and Philadelphia Medical Journal, Volume 80, p. 1200, December 17, 1904. In 1905, he opened a drug store in Burlington, Washington.Meyer Brothers Druggist, Volume 26, Issue 7, p. 18, C.F.G. Meyer, 1905. After several months of illness, Schacht died at the Providence Hospital in Seattle on December 1, 1906 at the age of 31.Medical Sentinel, Volume 15, p. 191, January 1907. It was the opinion of the attending physician that overtraining during his football career was responsible for a weakened heart that resulted in his death. Another account states that he died from Bright's disease. Minnesota's football coach Dr. Henry L. Williams denied suggestions that the death was the result of overtraining.
Head coaching record
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