Campion Jesuit High School - Knight Yearbook (Prairie du Chien, WI)

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Though the true beginning of the “Hoff- man Story” is June 28, 1882, in St. Louis, where the youngest son of ten was named William Stanislaus, our story begins in 1899 when “Bill” Hoffman attended St. Louis Uni- versity. A promising athlete, he played foot- ball and baseball and in track he won medals in the broad jump and high jump and tro- phies in the 100 and 220 dashes. He once ran a very close second to the world champion, Arthur Duffy, in the 100. He was also a star forward on the Sportsman’s Club soccer team. Scholastically he received a medal for honors in liberal arts studies that later led to his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees of Arts. The following year, 1900, he chose to dedicate his life to God. He attended Kenrick Diocesan Seminary in St. Louis for seven years, until, two years before ordination, he decided this was not his calling. During his summers in the seminary he avidly played his favorite sport, baseball. When he joined the Cotton States League in 1906, his seminary rector suggested he use an assumed name. So “Bill Phillips” the pitch- er came into being. His first year he led the Mobile team to the pennant with an 11-1 record. One of his most brilliant games was a 1-0 pitcher’s duel with spit-ball artist Jack Ryan, later a star with Cleveland and Boston, Hoffman the pitcher led the Cotton League in 1906 with 11-1 record, yielding 82 hits, 23 runs, 36 walks. “ Uoffmnn cotnpiled 11 i » . Wlt-IKi Hoffman the sprinter at St. Louis Univesrity in 1900. in which “Phillips” shut out Gulfport on two hits, winning the game himself in the tenth inning. The Mobile Register reported “Never before on the local diamond have two pitchers fought such a battle.” It went on: “Phillips was the hero yesterday. The Sailors just could not hit him.” As a pitcher he relied on superb control and sharp curves and a quick drop rather than great speed. He developed his pitching arm by punching the bag. After two summers with Mobile, he moved up to Waco in the Class B Texas league. Though he attracted big league scouts, he decided on a coaching-teaching career. He started at Holy Trinity College in Dallas in 1908 but contracted typhoid and malaria, was anointed, recovered, but was advised to leave the South. He then attended Regis College, worked in a St. Louis bank for a year, and then was recommended for the coaching job at a small college in Wisconsin. Mr. Hoffman came to Campion as head coach in January, 1911. Little did he realize the long friendship that was beginning. But an immediate challenge faced him. He had never seen a basketball game, let alone play the sport. Yet that first winter he led his col- 4

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William Stanislaus Hoffman CAMPION'S COACH 1911-1952

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lege team to six wins, one defeat. With spring he turned to a familar friend in baseball and guided Campion to an 8-1 record. Baseball was the THE popular sport at Campion with big teams scheduled. His College teams broke even with the Dubuque Sox in the 3-1 league and once bowed to the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2. In football and basketball it was the same; he played teams like Wisconsin, Ne- braska, and Marquette. In 1912 his basket- ball team lost to Iowa 14-12 but in 1914 beat Minnesota 37-11; in 1916 lost to Northwestern 30-22, but beat St. Louis U. 25-21 and Creigh- ton U. 16-15. His college coaching was interrupted twice: In 1917 during the War and from 1922-4 when as Librarian he had the herculean task of cataloguing 20,000 volumes in the college library. With this completed and closing of the college department imminent in 1925, he was asked to coach all high school sports. Thus began the amazing high-school record that earned him the distinction of “Dean of Mid-West High School Coaches.” His football teams compiled an amazing 141-76-16 record for a .649 win percentage. The ’28, ’41, and ’45 squads were victory teams; the 1928 team scored 276 points and allowed opponents only six. The famous “Con- quering Hoffmen” of 1929 had a 7-1 record. raUvyr roarkinif mark Hoffman the coach — college baseball in 1912. College baseball team of 1912 (then Sacred Heart College). Coach Hoffman is third from left, front row. COLLEGE FOOTBALL RECORD 1913-1921 Year Won Campion Lost Tied Pts. Opp. Pts. 1913 0 1 0 0 7 1914 6 0 0 174 22 1915 4 2 0 89 43 1916 6 0 0 100 14 1917 1918 Did not coach 2 0 0 113 0 1919 1 4 1 49 165 1920 4 3 2 141 96 1921 2 4 0 29 116 25 14 3 695 463 Year COLLEGE BASKETBALL RECORD 1911-1921 Campion Won Lost Pts. Opp. Pts. 1911 6 1 307 111 1912 4 5 284 260 1913 15 2 570 269 1914 10 3 420 242 1915 13 3 449 348 1916 9 8 430 145 1917 1918 Did 4 not coach 0 77 43 1919 3 2 96 81 1920 5 5 210 189 1921 5 8 205 271 74 37 3048 1959 Year 191 1 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 Won Lost 8 1 9 5 10 4 7 5 12 3 10 2 4 3 Did not coach 3 4 2 5 3 6 1 4 69 42 Opp. Runs 17 38 55 35 44 34 43 53 63 25 32 47 61 30 49 639 47i COLLEGE BASEBALL RECORD 1911-1922 Campion Runs 38 79 80 66 88 81 52 5