Frank McCormick - Inducted 1971

Born Nov. 5, 1894, in Genoa, Neb. Family moved to Wagner in 1905. Wagner High School. University of South Dakota. The 5-11, 190-pounder was the first South Dakotan to play pro football, signing with the Akron Indians of the early NFL in 1920, and playing on a team that beat out Jim Thorpe's Canton Bulldogs for the league title. He played three more games in 1921, then left to become an assistant football coach at Illinois. The next year he returned to South Dakota as athletic director and head coach of all sports at Columbus College in Sioux Falls. In 1930, he became baseball coach and assistant football coach at the University of Minnesota. McCormick, who was athletic director at Minnesota from 1933-50, retired from coaching in 1941. He was also a longtime member of the U.S. Olympic Committee. In 1925, McCormick was department commander of the American Legion for South Dakota and he was one of the pioneers in developing the American Legion baseball program in the United States. Played football, basketball and baseball at USD, captaining the football and baseball teams.