Mark Catlin , Sr . Mark S . Catlin , Sr . ( November 12 , 1882 – May 16 , 1956 ) was an American football player , track athlete , coach , lawyer , and politician . He served as the head football coach at the University of Iowa from 1906 to 1908 , and at Lawrence University from 1909 to 1918 and again from 1924 to 1927 , compiling a career college football record of 63 – 40 – 7 . Catlin played football at the University of Chicago and also participated in track and field competitions held adjunct to the 1904 Olympic Games . He later worked as an attorney and also served in the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1921 to 1923 . Playing career . Born in Aurora , Illinois , Catlin played football at the University of Chicago under Amos Alonzo Stagg . He accounted for the only score in Chicago ' s 1905 victory over Michigan by tackling a Wolverine in the end zone for a safety . The Chicago victory broke Michigan ’ s 56 - game unbeaten streak . He earned All - Western Conference honors at the end position , and he was named a second team All - American . Catlin was also a brilliant field athlete . Catlin won in the broad jump and high and low hurdles and also competed in the hurdles and discus at the Olympic Collegiate Championships , held in St . Louis in June , before the 1904 Olympics , along with many other competitions that included the word " Olympics " in their title . At this competition he received gold medals in the 120 and 220 yd hurdles and silver in the discus . His time in the 120 yd hurdles ( 15 3 - 5s ) bested that recorded in the official Olympics ( 16s ) . He graduated from Chicago in 1905 . 100 years later , Catlin was elected to the University of Chicago ' s Hall of Fame in 2005 . Coaching career . Iowa . Mark Catlin decided to go to law school at the University of Iowa . Catlin was hired as the heir apparent to John Chalmers as Iowa ' s head football coach . Catlin spent the 1906 season assisting Chalmers . Although Catlin was actually an assistant coach , many Iowa records consider Catlin , not Chalmers , the official coach of the 1906 Hawkeyes . The Western Conference meetings of 1905 led to two significant rule changes . Conference members were not allowed to play more than five games per season . Also , freshmen were now ineligible , and players were allowed a maximum of three years of eligibility . These rule changes were made in response to growing criticism over player injuries and deaths during games at that time . These changes greatly hampered play in 1906 . Conference players who were to be seniors were all ruled ineligible , because they had already played three years of competition . Players who were to be freshmen also sat out . Only players who were to be sophomores and juniors were allowed to play . Iowa finished with a 2 – 3 record in 1906 . Coaches Chalmers and Catlin worked well together but had contrasting coaching styles . Chalmers learned the eastern style of play at Lafayette , coaching players as individuals and devising conservative schemes to maximize their talents . Catlin learned the western style of play from Amos Alonzo Stagg at Chicago , coaching schemes rather than players and advocating an open , aggressive style . The most notable game of the 1907 season was the " rabbit game " against Wisconsin . After two easy wins to start the season , Iowa held a 5 – 0 halftime lead over Wisconsin when the two teams lined up for the second half kickoff . A rabbit ran out of Wisconsin ' s end zone and sprinted 110 yards downfield into Iowa ' s end zone . Wisconsin returned a punt late in the game for a touchdown , following the path of the rabbit , and gave the Badgers a 6 – 5 win . The Hawkeyes were amusingly convinced that it was the rabbit that had jinxed the team . Before their Wednesday practice for the weekend ' s Illinois game , the team had a rabbit hunt . Catlin found and shot the unlucky rabbit , and before the game with Illinois , the members of the Hawkeye team rubbed the dead rabbit ' s left hind foot for good luck . It must have worked ; Iowa won , 25 – 12 . Iowa finished the year with a 3 – 2 record . Catlin returned for the 1908 season . The season opening game against Coe College set the tone for the season . Two years earlier , Coe protested a game against Iowa . Iowa had won , 15 – 12 , but there was considerable controversy surrounding the win . Iowa trailed late in the game , and Coe officials complained that the timekeeper had given the Hawkeye team extra time to get in position for the game winning score . The Hawkeyes were determined to leave no doubt this time . They didn ' t . Iowa won , 92 – 0 . It is still the second largest margin of victory in school history . However , it was a Pyrrhic victory . Five prominent players , including Carroll " Chick " Kirk and Walter " Stub " Stewart , were badly injured and did not regain their effectiveness all year . As a result , Iowa stumbled to a 2 - 5 record . Mark Catlin , law degree in hand , left Iowa after the 1908 season . He had a 5 – 7 record in 1907 – 1908 , and a 2 – 3 record in 1906 . Despite the record , Catlin was a very innovative coach . He introduced the team to the game of handball to develop the team ' s quickness . He was also one of the first coaches to give his players oxygen when they became winded . In addition to coaching football , Catlin served as Iowa ' s track and cross country coach for three years from 1906 – 1908 . He left to coach at Lawrence University . Lawrence . Catlin began to make his mark on Lawrence football in 1910 , when the Vikings played to a 6 – 6 tie with Wisconsin . For the next four seasons , Lawrence was the unquestioned powerhouse of small college football in the state . Catlin ' s teams won four consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate championships from 1911 – 1914 and gave up just one touchdown to a small college opponent . In that stretch , Lawrence outscored its opponents 485 – 143 . Catlin stepped away from football following the 1918 season . He served in the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1921 – 1923 . His son Mark Catlin , Jr . also served in the Wisconsin State Assembly and was the speaker . After being defeated in the Republican primary in 1922 , he returned to his law practice . Catlin returned to football in 1924 and coached the Vikings to a 4 – 1 – 1 record and their second Midwest Conference championship . He coached for three more seasons before leaving Lawrence for good in 1927 . Catlin was a master strategist and psychologist when it came to gridiron tactics . He insisted on skin - tight dark blue jerseys , to make his team look smaller . This was the rough - and - tumble age of football , and Catlin wanted his men to be the toughest . He allowed minimal padding , and the men wore no shoulder pads or helmets . Catlin once said , " My theory on shoulder pads is that they are unnecessary because nature has provided protection at the vital points . " Catlin earned the moniker " Coach of Champions " during his 14 years as the football coach at Lawrence University . He won five conference championships , and his record of 55 – 29 – 7 ranks him third on the school ' s all - time wins list . Mark Catlin worked as an attorney until his death of a heart attack in 1956 . He was inducted into the Lawrence University Hall of Fame in 2002 .