Xavier University Athletics
Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1994
Clem Crowe served as Head Football Coach (1935-43), Head Basketball Coach (1933-43), Baseball Coach and Golf Coach. He had an especially astute knowledge of football. It was so astute that the sportswriters even gave him credit for it. After a big victory over rival Dayton, headlines read "Crowe's Strategy Defeats Flyers."
From 1936-43, Crowe posted a record of 41-31-2, for a winning percentage of 55.4Â percent. In Crowe's first season, Xavier finished 6-4, including a 21-13 victory over South Carolina. He had three great years after that when the Musketeers went 7-2 in 1938, with a 26-7 victory over Kentucky; 7-3 in 1940, and then there was the memorable season of 1941. XU finished 9-1, including a 27-0 demolition of Dayton.
Crowe was also the basketball coach at Xavier from 1933-43 and led his team to a combined record of 96-79, for a winning percentage of 54.9Â percent. In his first two seasons at XU, the Musketeers finished 9-1 and 14-4.
Crowe was a three-year letterman in both football and basketball at Notre Dame. He was twice All-America in football and once in basketball.
The Crowe trademark in the early Xavier years was his strong football lines, well grounded in blocking and tackling and great defense. In later years at Xavier, he demonstrated that he could produce explosive, well-balanced offensive teams as well. His 9-1 team of 1941 averaged 25.8 points per game. Defense remained his forte, though, as XU recorded 23 shutouts under Crowe in eight seasons, including five shutouts in 1941.
The list of men that played football and/or basketball for Crowe reads like a "Who's Who of XU Hall of Famers." Crowe coached Xavier greats John "Socko" Wiethe, Joe Kruse, Chet Mutryn, Fred Nebel, Ed Kluska, Hal Pennington and Leo Sack, to name a few.
Crowe also improved the Olympic sports program by reviving baseball in 1938 with the help of former Xavier coach and administrator Tony Comello and by starting an intercollegiate golf team.
After leaving Xavier, Crowe coached in the NFL for Buffalo and Baltimore in the old AFC.
