James McWeeney

Who is James McWeeney?

James L. McWeeney was an American football coach. He was the son of James and Catherine McWeeney. He served as the head coach at the University of Notre Dame in 1899, tallying a mark of 6–3–1.

James left home at an early age and sold farm machinery in Montana and the Dakota Territories. He went to Chicago in 1885 and worked for the West Division Railway Co. for several years. On June 21, 1890 he joined the Chicago police force. On March 14, 1898 he became a patrol sergeant. While in Chicago he lived at 1400 Warren Ave. and then at 6551 Lexington Ave.

He was an amateur and professional wrestler and won contest in Greco-Roman wrestling. He traveled to many cities and was regarded as among the best wrestlers in the country. He played football for the Chicago Athletic Club. He was a left guard and was one of the first westerners to show cleverness and originality in the game. McWeeney may not have been a college football player, but was a remarkable athlete in both football and wrestling. He was a lineman on the Chicago Athletic Association's team that played games across the country, some of them against teams of former Yale, Harvard and other Eastern players.