Background
Frank Holbrook lettered in track and football for Iowa in 1895. How he came to be a part of the football team is not widely known. It is true, however, that in 1895, Iowa nearly did not field an official team. The school Athletic Board ruled that recognition would not be granted until the team paid off its debts, and emergency fundraising was needed for the team to even be formed that season.
To save money, however, the school did not hire a head coach. Practices were reportedly disorganized and sloppy, and the 1895 Hawkeyes posted a poor 2-5 record. Iowa football would never go without a professional head coach again. It was in this season of uncertainty that Frank Holbrook first participated in the Hawkeye football program as a freshman.
The Ivy League was the premier conference in college football at that time, so Iowa hired former Pennsylvania star A.E. Bull as their head coach for the 1896 season. Bull’s arrival made Hawkeye fans optimistic that Iowa could bounce back from the disastrous 1895 campaign.
Read more about this topic: Frank Kinney Holbrook
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—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)