Franklin Cappon

Franklin C. "Cappy" Cappon (October 17, 1900 – November 29, 1961) was an American college football and college basketball player and coach. He played football and basketball at Phillips University and the University of Michigan and coached at Luther College (1923–1924), the University of Kansas (1926–1927), the University of Michigan (1925, 1928–1938), and Princeton University (1938–1961).

The son of a wealthy leather manufacturer in Holland, Michigan, Cappon was a star athlete in both basketball and football, and was named to All-Western football teams in 1920, 1921, and 1922. Before accepting a position at Princeton, Cappon was an assistant athletic director and basketball coach at Michigan from 1928 to 1938. In 23 years at Princeton, Cappon won five Ivy League championships, and his trademark "five-man weave" offense became closely identified with the program. He was a mentor at Princeton to a generation of student-athletes, including Butch van Breda Kolff, Bill Bradley and Frank Deford. Cappon died at age 61 of a heart attack in the showers at Princeton's Dillon Gymnasium after a basketball practice session.

Cappon was born and raised in Holland, Michigan. Cappon was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Cappon. His parents were both born in the Netherlands. His father, Isaac Cappon, came to Holland at age 17 and opened a tannery business that became one of Holland's largest companies, the Cappon-Bertsch Leather Co. His father was a leading citizen of the area and became Holland's first mayor, serving four terms. Cappon and his four sisters were raised in the family's stately house at 228 West 9th Street in Holland, built by Isaac Cappon in 1873 and considered one of the most beautiful homes in old Holland.

Cappon was an excellent all-around athlete at Holland High School. He played four years of varsity football and basketball and was all-state in both sports. In 1916, Cappon was the fullback on the Holland team that defeated rival Grand Haven 83–0. Holland gained 755 yards of offense in the game, and Cappon alone gained 364 yards. As a senior, Cappon led the 1917 Holland High School team to a series of extraordinary wins, beating Fennville (127–0), Kalamazoo High (60–0), Grand Haven (81–0), Benton Harbor (90–0), Grand Rapids Union (32–3), Traverse City (20–7) and Western State Normal (104–9), but losing to Grand Rapids Central (20–0).

Cappon later spoke about his early memories of oyster stew banquets, players shoveling snow off the football field and then marking it out, "dinky basketball floors" and their individual hazards, and the first state basketball tournament in 1916 when 40 teams entered a "free for all." Almost a half century after he graduated, the Holland Evening Sentinel called Cappon "Holland's most legendary high school athlete."

In 1917, former University of Michigan All-American John Maulbetsch married Cappon's sister and became the football coach at Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma. When Cappon graduated from high school in 1918, he was persuaded to join his brother-in-law at Phillips. Maulbetsch recruited other top athletes to Phillips, including future International Olympic Committee leader Doug Roby and future Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Owen, and turned Phillips briefly into one of the country's top football programs. Maulbetsch's team was undefeated in 1918 and lost only one game in 1919.

After one or two years at Phillips, Cappon returned to his home state and enrolled at the University of Michigan. Cappon became a star athlete in both football and basketball at Michigan. He played seven games at left end for the 1920 Michigan football team, and was named to Walter Eckersall's All-Western team at the end of the 1920 season. In 1921, Cappon played four games at left tackle, one game at left halfback, and two at right halfback. In recognition of his versatility on the line and in the backfield, one expert placed Cappon on his 1921 All-Western team as a tackle, and another named him as a second-team All-Western halfback. In 1922, Cappon moved to fullback where he started all seven games for the undefeated Michigan team. He was named a second-team All-Western fullback, and Walter Eckersall named Cappon as "general utility man" for his All-Western team. One writer said of Cappon's performance in 1922: "He's the boy who was given the ball whenever the team needed two or three yards, and he always got it." Grand Rapids mayor, and former Cappon teammate, Paul G. Goebel, called Cappon "the greatest football player I've seen in 35 years." Goebel added: "If Cappy hadn't played all the positions he'd a been an All-American in one or two of them."

Cappon also starred as a guard on the Michigan basketball team in 1921 and 1922. As a senior, Cappon was awarded the Western Conference Medal, an honorary award from the conference for all-around excellence in both athletics and academics.