Francis Dunn

Francis Arthur "Mother" Dunn, (April 15, 1891 – February 1975) was an American football player as well as head football coach for at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. While coaching at Dickinson he also played professional football for the Canton Bulldogs. After coaching he served as a corporate attorney in the steel industry until he retired in 1969

Early life Dunn was born and raised in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania where attended the local schools. After high school, he chose to attend Dickinson College because the school had a law school. While at Dickinson he was member of many organizations including the Student Senate, Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, as well as serving as president of the Athletic Association. A well rounded student he also sang with the Glee Club and sat on the editorial board of the college yearbook. He is considered one of greatest all-round athletes in the Dickinson's history earning two letters for basketball and four letters in football. During his senior year at Dickinson he married and had a daughter.

After he graduated in 1914 he was a teacher and coach at Elkins Park High School in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania. The following year, he returned to Dickinson and entered the School of Law. Dunn was elected captain of the 1912 team. The team started slow with losses to Penn and Carlisle but finished with a 4–4–1 record. The highlight of the season was a 0–0 tie against Swarthmore College on Thanksgiving Day. Dunn ran for 124 yards against a Swarthmore team that had beaten powers Penn, Navy and Lafayette. For the season Dunn led the team in scoring with 54 points on 9 touchdowns. In Dunn's last year playing for Dickinson, the Red and White finished with a record of 4–5 under new coach S. W. Harrington. During a game at Washington & Jefferson, Dunn play was so impressed the opponent's fans they gave him a standing ovation when he left the game in the fourth quarter. He finished the season with five games in which he had over 100 yards in offence. One of the ties was against Swarthmore College, a team that had beaten national powers Penn and Columbia. Dickinson came from behind when Welsh tied the game with five seconds remaining. Dunn returned as head coach for the 1917 season after Craver and took a coaching position at the Tome School in Port Deposit, Maryland. Due to World War I, few members of the 1917 team returned, many choosing to join the military. Dunn coached the 1917 squad to the first undefeated and untied season Dickinson history. His overall coaching record at Dickinson was 5–8–1.

Professional football player At the same time Dunn was coaching the Dickinson College football team, he was also earning money during law school by playing professional football for the Canton Bulldogs under Jim Thorpe.

After football After the 1917 season Dunn followed Forrest Craver and took a temporary coaching position the Tome School. He held this job until his bar exam was reviewed. While teaching at the Tome School, a father of one of the students approached Dunn to take a legal position at the Cambria Steel Company in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Dunn stayed with the company when it merged with Bethlehem Steel in 1923 and retired in 1969.