| Frank Coughlin | |||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Death Date: | [1] | ||||||||||
| Death Place: | Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Position1: | Tackle | ||||||||||
| Height Ft: | 6 | ||||||||||
| Height In: | 3 | ||||||||||
| Weight Lb: | 220 | ||||||||||
| College: | Notre Dame | ||||||||||
| Coaching Years1: | 1921 | ||||||||||
| Coaching Team1: | Rock Island Independents | ||||||||||
| Playing Years1: | 1921 | ||||||||||
| Playing Team1: | Rock Island Independents | ||||||||||
| Playing Years2: | 1921 | ||||||||||
| Playing Team2: | Detroit Tigers | ||||||||||
| Playing Years3: | 1921 | ||||||||||
| Playing Team3: | Green Bay Packers | ||||||||||
| Career Highlights: |
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| Databasefootball: | COUGHFRA01 | ||||||||||
| Coachpfr: | CougFr0 | ||||||||||
| Module: |
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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]
