Clarence Spears

Clarence Wiley "Doc" Spears (July 24, 1894 – February 1, 1964) was an American college football player, coach, and doctor. He was an All-American guard at Dartmouth College (1914–1915) and served as the head football coach at Dartmouth (1917–1920), West Virginia University (1921–1924), the University of Minnesota (1925–1929), the University of Oregon^[1] (1930–1931), the University of Wisconsin–Madison (1932–1935), the University of Toledo (1936–1942), and University of Maryland, College Park (1943–1944), compiling a career college football record of 148–83–14. Spears was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1955.

Clarence Spears

Biographical details
Born	(1894-07-24)July 24, 1894 DeWitt, Arkansas, U.S.
Died	February 1, 1964(1964-02-01) (aged 69) Jupiter, Florida, U.S.
Playing career
1912	Knox (IL)
1914–1915	Dartmouth
Position(s)	Guard, tackle
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1917–1920	Dartmouth
1921–1924	West Virginia
1925–1929	Minnesota
1930–1931	Oregon
1932–1935	Wisconsin
1936–1942	Toledo
1943–1944	Maryland
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1936–1942	Toledo
Head coaching record
Overall	148–83–14
Bowls	1–0
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Big Ten (1927)
Awards
2× Consensus All-American (1914, 1915)
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1955 (profile)

Early life and playing career

Spears was born in DeWitt, Arkansas and attended high school in Kewanee, Illinois.^[2] He began his college career at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, where he competed in football and track and field during the 1912–13 academic year. He transferred to Dartmouth College in 1913.^[3] At Dartmouth, he played guard in football and was selected to the College Football All-America Team in 1914 and 1915.

Coaching career

Spears was the head coach for the Dartmouth Indians football team from 1917 to 1920. From 1921 to 1924, he coached the West Virginia Mountaineers football team, winning 79.5% of the games he coached during his tenure there. Following that, Spears coached the Minnesota Golden Gophers from 1925 to 1929, leading the team to a 6–0–2 record and a share of the Big Ten Conference title in 1927 He had a 28–9–3 record at Minnesota.

Spears was the coach at Oregon in 1930 and 1931. From 1932 to 1935 he coached the Wisconsin Badgers. From 1936 to 1942, Spears was Toledo's coach. Finally, he was the coach at Maryland in 1943 and 1944, tallying a mark of 5–12–1.

Spears had two undefeated seasons as a coach, 1922 at West Virginia and 1927 at Minnesota. In 1955, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Medical career

While coaching, Spears studied medicine at the University of Chicago and the Rush Medical College. Following his football career, he maintained a medical practice for many years.

Head coaching record

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs
Dartmouth Indians (Independent) (1917–1920)
1917	Dartmouth	5–3
1918	Dartmouth	3–3
1919	Dartmouth	6–1–1
1920	Dartmouth	7–2
Dartmouth:		21–9–1
West Virginia Mountaineers (Independent) (1921–1924)
1921	West Virginia	5–4–1
1922	West Virginia	10–0–1			W San Diego East-West Christmas Classic
1923	West Virginia	7–1–1
1924	West Virginia	8–1
West Virginia:		30–6–3
Minnesota Golden Gophers (Big Ten Conference) (1925–1929)
1925	Minnesota	5–2–1	1–1–1	T–4th
1926	Minnesota	5–3	2–2	T–6th
1927	Minnesota	6–0–2	3–0–1	T–1st
1928	Minnesota	6–2	4–2	3rd
1929	Minnesota	6–2	3–2	T–3rd
Minnesota:		28–9–3	13–7–2
Oregon Webfoots (Pacific Coast Conference) (1930–1931)
1930	Oregon	7–2	3–1	4th
1931	Oregon	6–2–2	3–1–1	3rd
Oregon:		13–4–2	6–2–1
Wisconsin Badgers (Big Ten Conference) (1932–1935)
1932	Wisconsin	6–1–1	4–1–1	3rd
1933	Wisconsin	2–5–1	0–5–1	10th
1934	Wisconsin	4–4	2–3	T–5th
1935	Wisconsin	1–7	1–4	T–9th
Wisconsin:		13–17–2	7–13–2
Toledo Rockets (Ohio Athletic Conference) (1936–1942)
1936	Toledo	2–6	2–1	T–6th
1937	Toledo	6–3	0–0	Did not compete
1938	Toledo	6–3–1	0–0–1	T–10th
1939	Toledo	7–3	1–0	2nd
1940	Toledo	6–3	1–1	T–9th
1941	Toledo	7–4	2–0	3rd
1942	Toledo	4–4–1	1–0–1	4th
Toledo:		38–26–2	7–2–2
Maryland Terrapins (Southern Conference) (1943–1944)
1943	Maryland	4–5	2–0	2nd
1944	Maryland	1–7–1	1–1	6th
Maryland:		5–12–1	3–1
Total:		148–83–14
National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

References

1. McCann, Michael C. (1995). Oregon Ducks Football: 100 Years of Glory. Eugene, OR: McCann Communications Corp. ISBN 0-9648244-7-7.
2. Schlaver, C. O. (April 3, 1932). "They Once Called "Doc" Spears "Sarah"". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison, Wisconsin. p. 21. Retrieved October 18, 2020 – via Newspapers.com .
3. "Athlete Does Not Return". Daily Times. Davenport, Iowa. September 2, 1913. p. 2. Retrieved October 18, 2020 – via Newspapers.com .

External links

• Clarence Spears at the College Football Hall of Fame