Hunk Anderson
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| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | W | L | T | PCT | W | L |
| 1942 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 1 |
| 1943 | 8 | 1 | 1 | .800 | 1 | 0 |
| 1944 | 6 | 3 | 1 | .600 | 0 | 0 |
| 1945 | 3 | 7 | 0 | .300 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 23 | 11 | 2 | .639 | 1 | 1 |
| Career | 24 | 11 | 2 | .632 | ||
Born: Sep 22, 1898 in Calumet, MI
Died: Apr 24, 1978 in West Palm Beach, FL
Anderson became the Chicago Bears 4th head coach. George Halas had left the Bears mid-season 1942 to serve in the Navy during World War II. Anderson and Luke Johnsos worked as co-Head coaches for second 1/2 the 1942 season. Johnsos retired to join the U.S. Navy after the 1942 season.
Heartly "Hunk" Anderson was a major contributor in reviving the revolutionary “T” formation was being introduced and refined by Ralph Jones in the 30s. However, defenses had caught on and the Bears didn’t utilize it as much. Hunk Anderson’s introduced new blocking techniques. He replaced the old-fashioned blocking techniques with center of gravity adjustments featuring the sprinter's stance and stand-up obstruction blocks to accommodate the speed of the skill players. His innovation along with the addition of the “man-in-motion” feature helped revolutionize football. This “T” formation revival was a major factor in the Bears 73 to 0 crushing of the Washington Redskins in the 1940 championship game. That championship game, some believe, ushered in the modern era of football. Hunk Anderson was a true innovator of the game.
Coaching Career
Hunk Anderson was awarded the dubious task of replacing Knute Rockne as Notre Dame Head Coach after Rockne’s death in a plane crash. Anderson didn’t have the same success as Rockne and traveled to several stops before ending up in Chicago again as line coach. Anderson was a member of the Bears staff for 12 years. In 1951, Anderson retired from football and worked as an account executive for a Detroit based steel company.
• 1946-1951—Chicago Bears Assistant
• 1942-1945—Chicago Bears Co-Head Coach w/ Luke Johnsos.
• 1940-1941—Chicago Bears Offensive/Defensive Line Coach
• 1938-1939(?)—Cincinnati University Coach
• 1937—Michigan University Coach
• 1934-1936—North Carolina State Coach
• 1931-1933—Notre Dame Head coach (Took over after Rockne’s death)
• 1930—Notre Dame Assisitant
• 1927-1928—University of St. Louis coach
• 1922-1926—Notre Dame Assistant
Playing Career
• 1922-1926—Chicago Bears (served also as Knute Rockne’s assistant during his playing days)
• 1918-1921—Notre Dame All American Guard
