Marchmont Howard Schwartz

Schwartz was one of the greatest players in Notre Dame history and helped lead the Irish to back-to-back national championships in 1929 and 1930; he was also a consensus All-America in 1931. When Marchy graduated, his 1,945 rushing yards ranked second all-time in school history behind George Gipp (it is still 13th all-time in school history; only one other player in front him played only three seasons for the Irish). In 1962, Schwartz was named to Notre Dame's All-Time Eleven.

Birth and Death Dates:
b. March 20, 1909 - d. April 18, 1991

Career Highlights:
Schwartz, who was named for a racehorse, was an outstanding triple threat under Knute Rockne at Notre Dame. After spending his freshman year at Loyola University in New Orleans, he transferred to Notre Dame and sat out the 1928 season. In 1929, he rushed 65 times for 326 yards and three touchdowns as Notre Dame finished the season 9-0-0 and won the national championship.

In 1930, Schwartz became the best player on the team and led the Irish in rushing, passing, and scoring. That season, he scored the winning touchdown against Southern Methodist in the opening game of the season (and the first game played at Notre Dame Stadium) to give the Irish a 20-14 win. Later that season, he scored the first touchdown on a 27-yard run against undefeated No. 4 Northwestern in Notre Dame's 14-0 win. Against Pittsburgh, Marchy scored four touchdowns to lead the Irish to a 35-19 victory. On November 29, the Irish faced undefeated No.9 Army in the snow in front of 110,000 people at Soldier Field. In one of the greatest games of the first half of the century, Schwartz scored the only touchdown for Notre Dame on a 54-yard run. The Irish blocked an extra point late in the game to win, 7-6.

After defeating USC in the final game of the year, the Irish were proclaimed national champions for the second season in a row as they finished 10-0-0. That year, Schwartz was a consensus All-America first team as he rushed 124 times for 927 yards (an amazing 7.5 average) and scored nine touchdowns. He also completed 17 of 59 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns. Unfortunately four months later, in March, 1931, tragedy struck Notre Dame when legendary coach Knute Rockne was killed in a plane crash. When he learned the news, Marchy sobbed uncontrollably and said: "Nobody can make me believe it! It can't be true!"

In 1931, the Irish played well, finishing 6-2-1, but did not seem fully recovered from their devastating loss. That season, Marchy repeated as the team's rushing, passing, and scoring leader; against Carnegie Tech, he scored on runs of 58 and 60 yards to finish the year with 188 yards on 23 carries, and was a unanimous selection as first team All-America. Marchy rushed for 692 yards and five touchdowns on 146 carries. He also completed 9-51 passes for 174 yards and three touchdowns. Marchy graduated with 1,945 rushing yards on 335 attempts for an outstanding 5.8 average; he also had 17 career rushing touchdowns.

After graduating, Marchy became a backfield coach at the University of Chicago and then the head coach at Creighton. In 1940, he became an assistant coach at Stanford, who won the Rose Bowl that season. Two years later, he took over as head coach and led Stanford to a record of 6-4-0. Over the next three years Stanford did not have a football team because of World War II, but Marchy returned to the school as head coach in 1946. He coached until 1950, when he decided to retire because of his disgust over the practices used to recruit high school kids. He had a record of 28-28-4 as Stanford's head coach.

Stanford sports information director Dan Libendorfer said of Schwartz, "Schwartz was head football coach at Stanford during two of the most difficult periods...immediately pre- and post- World War II. The polished, fluent, and handsome Schwartz did a very good job under trying circumstances." In 1974, Schwartz was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Origin:
New Orleans, Louisiana

Career Dates:
Schwartz played halfback at Notre Dame from 1929-1931. He was then an assistant coach at Notre Dame and the University of Chicago, the Athletic Director at Creighton University, and the Head coach at Stanford University.

Physical description:
5'11", 167 pounds

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