Fred Schacht Frederick E . Schacht , M . D . , ( c . 1875 – December 1 , 1906 ) was an American college football coach , player , and medical doctor . He served as the head coach at the University of Kentucky from 1904 to 1905 . Kentucky amassed a 15 – 4 – 1 record during his tenure . 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 . He then attended the University of Minnesota , and was initiated as a member of the Nu Sigma Nu fraternity on March 9 , 1901 . He played on the football team as a tackle in 1903 , 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 , and Schacht was " 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 , Walter Camp ' s second team , and Fielding H . Yost ' s second team . Schacht received a Doctor of Medicine degree from Minnesota in 1903 . University of Kentucky . After graduation , he moved to Fergus Falls , Minnesota , and worked at the City Hospital in Minneapolis . 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 York ers , Danvillians , Cincinnati ans , Hoodoos , Burgoo s , Whatnot s , Topnots . . . the more the merrier " . 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 . Later life . On November 26 , 1904 , he married Sophia Gloria née Weise in St . Louis , Missouri . In 1905 , he opened a drug store in Burlington , Washington . After several months of illness , Schacht died at the Providence Hospital in Seattle on December 1 , 1906 at the age of 31 . It was the opinion of the attending physicican 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 .