Mark Catlin  

Mark Seavey Catlin Sr. was a football player, track athlete, coach, lawyer, and politician. He served as the head football coach at the University of Iowa from 1906 to 1908.

He decided to go to law school at the University of Iowa. He was hired as the heir apparent to John Chalmers as Iowa's head football coach. He spent the 1906 season assisting Chalmers. Although Catlin was actually an assistant coach, many Iowa records consider Catlin, not Chalmers, the official coach of the 1906 Hawkeyes.

Iowa finished with a 2-3 record in 1906. Chalmers and Catlin worked well together but had contrasting coaching styles. The most notable game of the 1907 season was the "rabbit game" against Wisconsin in which they lost 6-5. They bounced back in the next game against Illinois after a rabbit hunt. Iowa finished the year with a 3-2 record.

Catlin returned for the 1908 season. The season opening game against Coe College set the tone for the season. Two years earlier, Coe protested a game against Iowa. Iowa had won, 15-12, but there was considerable controversy surrounding the win. Iowa trailed late in the game, and Coe officials complained that the timekeeper had given the Hawkeye team extra time to get in position for the game winning score.

The Hawkeyes were determined to leave no doubt this time. They didn't. Iowa won, 92-0. It is still the second largest margin of victory in school history. However, it was a Pyrrhic victory. Five prominent players, including Carroll "Chick" Kirk and Walter "Stub" Stewart, were badly injured and did not regain their effectiveness all year. As a result, Iowa stumbled to a 2-5 record.

With law degree in hand, he left Iowa after the 1908 season. He had a 5-7 record in 1907 and 1908, and a 2-3 record in 1906. Despite the record, he was considered a very innovative coach. He introduced the team to the game of handball to develop the team's quickness. He was also one of the first coaches to give his players oxygen when they became winded. In addition to coaching football, he served as Iowa's track and cross country coach for three years from 1906-1908. He left to coach at Lawrence University.

Born 11/12/1882 and died on 5/16/1956 at the age of 73.