Texas Football Rewind: Knute Rockne product Jack Chevigny is HC

A short Texas football head coaching tenure on the Forty Acres was part of a lengthy playing and coaching career for Jack Chevigny.

With the University of Texas athletic department going on its seventh day without anything happening in terms of game action, the news cycle is slowing way down of late on the Forty Acres. However, the Texas football program does still have a lot to talk about in the midst of the 2020 offseason. Cancellation of spring camp might not hold them back from having a successful run this fall on the gridiron.

However, before we look forward to what’s ahead for the Texas Longhorns football program this fall, we take a look back and what lessons we can learn from the past and what that taught us. Texas has a long and illustrious history for its football program, which gives the fan base a lot of entertainment value when re-visiting old stories and memories.

One particularly fond memory from the lengthy past of the Longhorns football program is all the successful head coaches that rolled through the Forty Acres. A former Texas head coach that goes way back in the program’s history is also a former Notre Dame Fighting Irish halfback and a U.S. Marine Corps servicemember Jack Chevigny.

Chevigny played at Notre Dame in the late 1920’s, and his most famous play is the rushing touchdown he scored that is known as “that’s one for the Gipper”. That famous line came from legendary former Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne.

As a product off the Rockne player and coaching tree, Chevigny did hold a few prominent coaching positions both at the college and NFL ranks. He was an assistant coach on the Notre Dame staff from 1929-1931. Chevigny also coached the Chicago Cardinals in the NFL in 1932. He coached that early Chicago professional football franchise when the college version of the sport was still more popular than the NFL.

After his brief stint with the Cardinals was over, and after one year of coaching with St. Edward’s, he would land a job with the Longhorns. Chevigny first started coaching Texas in 1934, and his run on the Forty Acres would end in 1936.

The inaugural season for Chevigny as the Texas head coach would be fairly successful. Texas finished up the 1934 season with a record of 7-2-1. They would finish second in the Southwest Conference standings to the Rice Owls, who went undefeated in conference play. Texas reeled in big wins over the Oklahoma Sooners, Arkansas Razorbacks, Texas A&M Aggies, and Notre Dame in 1934.

But after one solid season with Texas, things would start going downhill fast for Chevigny. His 1935 team could not figure out how to get on the right side of the win column down the stretch. Texas lost five of their final six games in 1935, to finish up with a record of 4-6 (1-5 SWC). Their lone win in conference play that year came over the Baylor Bears on Nov. 9.

The final year for Chevigny as the Texas head coach went even worse than that four win 1935 season. Chevigny would see his team finish with a poor record of 2-6-1 (1-5 SWC), while the offense and defense both ranked outside the top 100 Division 1 teams in the nation.

The 1936 college football season was one of the rare occasions where Texas finished at the bottom of their conference standings. Texas and Rice flipped the script, in a bad way, from how the Southwest Conference standings would finish out in 1934 compared to 1936.

Chevigny would be finished as the Texas head coach after the 1936 season ended. He would only have one more head coaching job before his run ended. He coached the Camp Lejeune Football Team in North Carolina in 1943 and guided them to a perfect 6-0 record while he was at the helm.

At the young age of 38, Chevigny would be killed in the Battle for Iwo Jima in the pacific theater in World War II. He would later receive the Purple Heart Medal and Combat Action Ribbon for his heroic actions in World War II.

Chevigny is worth the recognition throughout his football playing and coaching career for a number of reasons. He has that legendary Rockne-Notre Dame connection, had one very solid year with Texas, and served his country in World War II.