The Temple Owls football program from 1910 to 1919 was led by three head coaches. William J. Schatz was the head coach from 1909 to 1913 and compiled a 13–14–3 record. William Nicolai was the head coach from 1914 to 1916, compiling a 9–5–3 record. Elwood Geiges was hired as the head coach for the 1917 season, but Temple University opted to cancel the season due to a manpower shortage resulting from World War I. The program did not return until 1922.
Sources conflict as to who served as the coach of the team. The Temple Football Media Guide states that William Nicholai was the head coach.[1] However, a contemporaneous news account states that Willard Hess was the coach and Nicholai the athletic director.[3]
Sources also conflict as to who served as the team captain. The Media Guide states that John H. Rosengarten was the captain. However, the same contemporaneous news account from September 1914 states that Herbert Shields was elected captain, and Harry Rosenbarden was elected as manager.[3]
Veteran players returning from the 1913 team included Harry Rosenbarden, Herbert Shields, Raymond Eardle, Roy Bressler, William Lemer, John Smith, and George Logia.[3]
Elwood Geiges played at the quarterback position.[4] Geiges later served as a member of the NCAA Football Rules Committee and is credited with inventing the hand signals used by officials, including the signals for holding, offsides, and time out. He was posthumously presented with the National Football Foundation's Outstanding Football Official Award in 1985.[5][6]
The 1917 Temple Owls football team arranged a full schedule of intercollegiate football games. The team also hired its former star quarterback Elwood Geiges to serve as its head football coach for the 1917 season.
Impact of World War I
In April 1917, the United States entered World War I, and enrollment at Temple dropped as students either enlisted or were drafted into military service. Approximately 500 Temple students participated in the war.[12]
The war effort reduced the enrollment in Temple's normal school to 15 men. Students in Temple's medical department declined to bolster the ranks of the athletic programs, stating "they cannot spare the time from their scholastic work."[13] In late September, Temple's athletic director William Nicolai announced that, rather than recruiting men from other departments, Temple and Temple Prep would cancel their football seasons.[13]
In the absence of football, the students in the physical training department formed a soccer team. The Evening Ledger reported at the time: "Although most of them have never played the English game, they believe they will have a fair eleven."[13]
War benefit game
Late in the season, a varsity football team was formed and staged a single match against the freshmen. The game was conducted to raise funds for the war effort and ended in a 6–6 tie.[14]
The war continued to impact Temple's enrollment until 1920 when 6,000 students, including more than 300 war veterans, enrolled at the school.[16] The school did not field teams during the 1918, 1919, 1920, and 1921 seasons. It was not until the 1922 season that varsity football returned to Temple.[1]
Coach Geiges did not wait for the return of football to Temple. In 1918, Geiges began a 27-year career as a football official and member of the NCAA Football Rules Committee. He is credited with inventing the hand signals used by officials, including the signals for holding, offsides, and time out. He was posthumously presented with the National Football Foundation's Outstanding Football Official Award in 1985.[5][6]
References
^ abcdefghijklm"2019 Temple Owls Football Media Guide"(PDF). Temple University. p. 128. Retrieved May 25, 2020. (1914 games against Atlantic City and Pennsylvania Military games omitted from media guide, but are sourced to contemporaneous news accounts)
^James Hilty (2010). Temple University: 125 Years of Service to Philadelphia, the Nation, and the World. Temple University Press. p. 41. ISBN9781439900215.
