Joe Schmidt

Joseph Paul Schmidt (born January 19, 1932) is a former American football player and coach at both the collegiate and professional levels. His 13-year career with the National Football League's Detroit Lions gained him a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973.

Collegiate career

Schmidt grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the borough of Brentwood and attended the University of Pittsburgh, playing on the school's football team for three years, from 1950 to 1952. His hard-nosed play and leadership were an integral part of the team during those three years, with his inspirational pre-game speech helping the Panthers upset the heavily-favored Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 22–19, on October 11, 1952. One player later commented, "Hell, we were more afraid of Schmidt than Notre Dame." Schmidt's jersey No. 65 is retired and is among an impressive list of fellow Pitt players.

Despite these attributes, Schmidt's size (6 ft, 195 lb; 1.8 m, 88 kg) worked against him in the NFL draft, when the Lions waited until the seventh round to select him. It was not until his arrival at the 1953 College All-Star Game that the Lion coaches, who were opposing him in the contest, saw his talent on display.

Joe Schmidt (rugby union)

Josef 'Joe' Schmidt is a New Zealand-born Irish rugby union coach, who is currently the head coach of Ireland. Ireland have won two 6 Nations Championships in two years under his leadership. Schmidt's first head coaching role in Europe was with Leinster Rugby, beginning in 2010. He brought unprecedented success to the province, reaching six finals and winning four trophies in three years. He was previously an assistant coach with the Blues and Clermont Auvergne.

Schmidt was born and grew up in New Zealand, and became an Irish citizen in 2015.

Early life

After training as a school teacher, Schmidt played rugby in New Zealand before playing amateur rugby in the Irish lower leagues during the 1990s. He then returned to New Zealand to take up the position of a head teacher.

Coaching

Schmidt took up the option to coach New Zealand Schools, before leaving teaching to coach Bay of Plenty from 2003–2004. While at the Steamers he won the Ranfurly Shield defeating Auckland on 15 August 2004. The Steamers had one successful defence of the title before losing to Canterbury. Schmidt joined the Blues as assistant coach from 2004–2007 where, in his final year, they were knocked out in the semi-final.

Joe Schmidt (ice hockey)

Joseph Frank "Otto" Schmidt (November 5, 1926 – September 30, 2000) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played two games in the National Hockey League for the Boston Bruins.

His brother, Jack Schmidt, also played for the Boston Bruins in the NHL, playing one season, in 1942. He died on September 30, 2000 in Regina.

References

External links