

Still others indicate that Murphy was the one directing the team, or that Murphy relinquished the coaching duties to Crawford midway through the season to focus on his duties as trainer. While Crawford has been identified by several sources as Michigan's first football coach, others indicate that Crawford and Murphy were the joint head coaches in 1891. There is some inconsistency in how coaching responsibilities for the 1891 team have been recorded. The directors also confirmed the appointment of Mike Murphy, the trainer at the Detroit Athletic Club, to assist Crawford. The appointment was made at a meeting of the university's athletic directors on October 16, 1891. Ĭrawford was already enrolled at the law school and a member of the football team when he was selected as Michigan's first head coach. As a first-year law student, Crawford was both the unpaid coach and a substitute player for the 1891 team. " Crawford was an 1891 graduate of Yale University who was enrolled at the University of Michigan School of Law. , the systematic development of a team began. In his history of the University of Michigan, Wilfred Byron Shaw cites the hiring of Frank Crawford as a watershed moment in the history of the school's football program: "A new era in the history of football at Michigan began in 1891, when with a fair schedule and an experienced coach, Frank Crawford. The 1891 season was the first in which the Michigan football team had a coach. Season summary Michigan's first football coach
