:Warren Schmakel

{{short description|American football player, coach, scout and administrator}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Warren Schmakel

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1920|11|3}}

| birth_place = Toledo, Ohio, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1982|11|17|1920|11|3}}

| death_place = Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.

| alma_mater =

| player_years1 = 1940–1942

| player_team1 = Central Michigan

| player_positions =

| coach_years1 = 1946–1947

| coach_team1 = Toledo (line)

| coach_years2 = 1948–1949

| coach_team2 = Miami (OH) (line)

| coach_years3 = 1950

| coach_team3 = Central Michigan

| coach_years4 = 1951–1952

| coach_team4 = Miami (OH) (line)

| coach_years5 = 1957–1959

| coach_team5 = Nebraska (freshmen)

| coach_years6 = 1960–1963

| coach_team6 = Rutgers (line)

| coach_years7 = 1964–1968

| coach_team7 = Boston University

| admin_years1 = 1969–1970

| admin_team1 = Boston University (asst. AD)

| admin_years2 = 1970–1974

| admin_team2 = Boston University

| admin_years3 = 1974–1979

| admin_team3 = Illinois State

| overall_record = 26–28–2

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships =

| awards = First-team Little All-American (1942)

| coaching_records =

}}

Warren Hugo Paul Schmakel (November 3, 1920 – November 17, 1982) was an American football player, coach, scout, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Central Michigan University in 1950 and at Boston University from 1964 to 1968, compiling a career college football record of 26–28–2. Schmakel later served as the athletic director at Boston University and at Illinois State University, and as a scout for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL).

Playing

Schmakel graduated from Libbey High School in Toledo, Ohio.{{cite news |title=Central Names New Grid Chief |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qoJOAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA4&dq |access-date=20 November 2024 |work=Ludington Daily News |date=February 27, 1950}} He played guard for the Central Michigan Chippewas football team and was named to the 1942 Little All-America college football team.{{cite news |title=Little All-America List Jones Again |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wdxXAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA13&dq |access-date=20 November 2024 |work=The Evening Independent |date=December 9, 1942}} He received his bachelor's degree from Central Michigan in 1943 and earned a master's degree from Columbia University in 1948.

Coaching

Schmakel served in the United States Navy during World War II and began his coaching career in 1946 under his former high school coach, Bill Orwig, at the University of Toledo.{{cite news |title=Beach, Schmakel To Assist Orwig |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7AkkAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA18&dq |access-date=20 November 2024 |work=Toledo Blade |date=April 16, 1946}} In 1948, he signed a contract to become the head football coach at Bay City High School in Bay City, Michigan, but left before the season began to become an assistant at Miami University.{{cite news |title=Former TU Coach Takes Miami Job |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_aEuAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA39&dq |access-date=20 November 2024 |work=Toledo Blade |date=June 28, 1948}} He left in 1950 to become head coach at his alma mater, Central Michigan, and was replaced on the Miami coaching staff by Ara Parseghian.{{cite news |title=Named Line Coach |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PlxIAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA25&dq |access-date=20 November 2024 |work=St. Petersburg Times |date=March 1, 1950}} Schmakel resigned after one season and returned to Miami.{{cite news |title=Schmakel Quits Chippewa Camp |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HY9OAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA4&dq |access-date=20 November 2024 |work=Ludington Daily News |date=March 13, 1951}} In 1954, he became the chief of the plans and operations section of the United States Army European athletic office. He returned to college football in 1957 as an assistant at Nebraska.{{cite news |title=Schmakel Named Husker Aide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ARVUAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA15&dq |access-date=20 November 2024 |work=St. Joseph News-Press |date=February 7, 1957}} In 1960, he became the line coach at Rutgers.{{cite news |title=Mertes to Nebraska? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a2IfAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA4&dq |access-date=20 November 2024 |work=The Nevada Daily Mail |date=January 20, 1960}} He helped lead the 1961 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team to an undefeated season.

On January 9, 1964, Schmakel was named head football coach at Boston University.{{cite news |title=Schmakel New Coach At BU |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rEIqAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA23&dq |access-date=20 November 2024 |work=The Pittsburgh Press |date=January 9, 1964}} In his five seasons as head coach, Schmakel led the Terriers to a 20–24–2 record. He coached a number of players who went on to play in the NFL, including Bruce Taylor, Reggie Rucker, and Pat Hughes. The 1969 Boston University Terriers football team, composed of players Schmakel recruited and coached by his former lead assistant Larry Naviaux, played in that year's Pasadena Bowl.

Administration

In 1969, Schmakel stepped down as football coach to become BU's assistant athletic director.{{cite news |title=Schmakel Gets AD Post |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GopjAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA20&dq |access-date=20 November 2024 |work=The Telegraph |date=July 30, 1969}} He was promoted to AD the following year after the departure of Bob Peck.{{cite news |last1=Pave |first1=Marvin |title=BU athletic director resigns; Schmakel to take over post |work=The Boston Globe |date=August 9, 1970}} In 1971, he hired the university's first black head coach when he named Ron Mitchell head men's basketball coach.{{cite news |last1=Monahan |first1=Bob |title=BU to name black basketball coach |work=The Boston Globe |date=February 27, 1971}}{{cite news |last1=Jenkins |first1=Lee |title=Ex-Crane star named BU head coach |work=Chicago Daily Defender |date=March 6, 1971}}

In 1974, Schmakel took the same job at Illinois State University.{{cite news |title=Boston AD Goes To Illinois State |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UnMlAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA8&dq |access-date=20 November 2024 |work=Gettysburg Times |date=August 14, 1974}} He remained in this position until July 31, 1979.{{cite news |title=Transactions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bUFYAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA90&dq |work=The Bulletin |date=December 1, 1978}}

Later life

After leaving Illinois State, Schmakel became a college scout for the San Francisco 49ers. He fell ill while on a scouting trip in Nebraska and went to Lincoln General Hospital for a colostomy. An infection set in and on November 17, 1982. died from a blood clot in the lung. A resident of Oakland, California at the time of his death, he was buried in Topsfield, Massachusetts, where he had lived while working at BU.{{cite news |title=Warren Schmakel, At 62, Former BU Football Coach |work=The Boston Globe |date=November 19, 1982}}{{cite news |author= |title=Warren Schmakel |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oU5PAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vgIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6866,404227 |newspaper=The Blade |location=Toledo, Ohio |date=November 19, 1982 |page=16 |accessdate=January 25, 2011 |via=Google News }}