Oklahoma City In 1925 Waldorf was hired as an athletic director at
Oklahoma City University, which is affiliated with the
United Methodist Church. He was able to get the job through his father, a Methodist bishop. Waldorf also became the head coach for football, basketball, and track teams. He was paid $4,000 per year, a substantial salary for that time. As a coach Waldorf emphasized the fundamentals of blocking and tackling as well as each player's involvement in practice. In his three years as the head coach he was able to turn the one-win and seven-loss
Oklahoma City Goldbugs into and an eight-win, one-loss and two-tie shared Collegiate Conference champion. As an athletic director and administrator Waldorf was successful in funding and constructing sports facilities as well generating new income through scheduling games against powerhouse opponents. He left Oklahoma City in 1927. As a coach Waldorf emphasized the same blocking and tackling fundamentals as he did at Oklahoma City. He hired
Albert Exendine as the backfield assistant coach, who was at the
Carlisle Indian Industrial School under
Pop Warner. Waldorf's and Exedine's cooperation brought forth one of the significant innovations in football, they developed a precursor to future development of individual position substitutions as well as separate offensive and defensive units. Several backfield groups were created, consisting of quarterback, fullback and two halfbacks. These groups where then rotated in between plays depending on the on field situation. Previously, Waldorf had already brought administrative changes, such as installation of stadium lights to play night games, as well as holding some games on Fridays.
Northwestern In 1935, Waldorf moved to
Northwestern University, where he remained head coach until 1946. One year prior to his arrival and under coach
Dick Hanley, Northwestern won only two Big Ten games. During his first year, and with little possibly of immediate success, Waldorf chose to rely on advice he received from then revered University of Illinois coach
Robert Zuppke: 'When you're faced with one of those years when your material is only fair and you're not going to win many games, put your eggs in one basket. Pick a tough team and lay for it. Knock it off, and you've go yourself a season ... That's exactly what I did my first year at Northwestern. The target I chose was Notre Dame." That
year's team went 2-3-1 in the Big-10, it handed
Notre Dame its sole loss of the 1935 season. Later, Waldorf recalled advice from
Amos Alonzo Stagg, who is also considered one of the greats and was the coach at
University of Chicago. He told Waldorf that a coach should remember that the players are also young students at the university and that their other concerns should be recognized while the coach is the primary figure in their lives. During his first year Waldorf relied on assistance from
Litz Rusness, a holdover from the previous years. Rusness' approach involved intensive film study of team opponents, he noted the ever-evolving strategy of changing offensive positions and was curious why the defenses did not use the same approach to both confuse the opponents and to specifically counter their offensive adjustments. Waldorf and Rusness created formations designed specifically against Notre Dame's offense, with these formations being practiced throughout the season. On November 9, 1935, at its home field, Notre Dame suffered its only loss of the season, Northwestern won the game 14 to 7. It was Northwestern's first win over Notre Dame in previous 18 tries. Suffering the loss Notre Dame were deprived of a likely national championship. It was during that win's celebration that Waldorf's staff began calling him "Pappy". Their only loss came at the end of the season at Notre Dame. The highlights of the next ten seasons were Northwestern finishing in third place in
1940 and
1943. Waldorf's 1940 team included the Chicago star player
Bill DeCorrevont and defeated dominant Notre Dame 20 to 0. There were also two Big Ten winless seasons in
1942 and
1944. In 1942, Waldorf had to deal with changes brought on by United States entry into
World War II. For purposes of a boost in military morale the number of games was raised to ten. During these years there was a significant player shortage due to the military draft. To retain the 1941 season, freshmen were allowed to compete on varsity teams. That season, Waldorf only had four returning starters. However, the season also brought important positives that would only be seen the following year. Waldorf considered the 1942 Wildcats to be his first great passing team. It was led by legendary quarterback and future coach
Otto Graham. Although the team won only one game, Graham finished the season with then conference record breaking numbers - on 182 attempts he completed 89 passes for 1,092 yards. Next season, everything clicked, the
1943 team beat the
Ohio State, the
defending national champions, with the team's only losses coming from
Notre Dame and
Michigan, the team finished the season with an 8–2 record and a ninth-place ranking in the Associated Press Poll. Graham set another Big Ten passing record and finished third in
Heisman Trophy voting. Next year, Graham transferred to another team. Without him Waldorf could only manage a single win. That year Northwestern squad was made out of 51 players with 43 of them being freshmen. During Waldorf's later years at Northwestern, he received assistance from the Chicago Bears in developing the
T formation, a stance that the Bears were successful at deploying. Waldorf also served as an unofficial coach on the annually voted for
All-Star College Player v. NFL Champions game. He assisted the All-Star coaches and participated in training because the annual game was played at Chicago's Soldier Field with the college players being hosted at Northwestern. During the first post WWII,
1946 season, Waldorf's team won only two games in the Big Ten, it was his last year at Northwestern. Following the season the Associated Students of the
University of California exercised its unique power and voted to fire that season's coach
Frank Wickhorst. Shortly after that Waldorf was offered the head coaching position. He had previously visited and liked northern California and after considering the generous offer, Waldorf decided to accept the position. Back at
Northwestern, the athletic administration allowed Waldorf to leave two years before the end of the contract. Waldorf personally addressed his team and was the first person that let them know that he was leaving the university. In the
Big Game, California's traditional rivalry against
Stanford University, California won for the first time since
1941. In
1948, Waldorf's team went 10–0, beating USC and getting revenge for the previous season's only loss. Waldorf saw the offensive line as the key to that season's success as well as the rushing of
Jackie Jensen an All American that year and a future baseball star. That season Jensen set California record rushing 1,010 yards in a single season. Cal was invited to play in the
1949 Rose Bowl for the first time in 11 years. In that season's game Waldorf faced Northwestern, the previous team that he coached, coached by his former star player
Bob Voigts. California lost that game 20-14. A controversial moment in the game is now known as the "phantom touchdown," when Northwestern's player was given a touchdown even though he fumbled the ball as while he was crossing the line, California disputed the touchdown arguing that the ball was fumbled prior to its crossing the line. California's claim is supported by a photograph taken at that moment. That game was the first bowl game with over 100,000 in attendance. During that season the Golden Bears were again undefeated. The star of that season was guard and linebacker
Les Richter, who years later became the first Golden Bear to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The undefeated Golden Bears were again invited to the
Rose Bowl where they again lost, this time to
University of Michigan. From 1949 to
1951, Waldorf brought California to three straight Rose Bowls. In all three games, and prior to losing, California was either tied or ahead until the last quarter. The team was not invited to the
1952 Rose Bowl because Cal lost two games during that season. From his first season 1947 to the two losses of 1951, Waldorf's Golden Bears were 46-3-1 during the regular seasons. In 1953 the
National Collegiate Athletic Association changed the game by canceling a rule that was in place since World War Two. A team could no longer make multiple substitutions and have specific players for each position, only one substitution could be made per play. In 1956, it became known that Waldorf was possibly involved in a
1953 recruiting scandal involving star freshman quarterback
Ronnie Knox. In order to have Knox enroll at the university, the California football booster club promised him that Knox's step father to be hired as a scout, his high school coach would be hired as an assistant coach, and that Knox himself would be given a job writing for a local newspaper and also be paid $500 per year by the booster club. Knox enrolled at Cal but California's administration found out and made sure that the benefits would not be provided. After one year at Cal, Knox transferred to
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Following investigation by both administration and the PCC conference, it was found that Waldorf was not directly involved in the scandal. However, it was found that Waldorf did approve creation of the booster club without approval from the administration. Waldorf was required to write a letter of apology to the administration. The scandal also involved other schools. Three other universities - UCLA, USC and
University of Washington where punished with three years of probation, fines, bowl bans, TV bans and players losing multiple games of eligibility. Because of California's own actions to prevent the violations it received a smaller fine and a single year of probation. The 1956 season was Waldorf's last at the university, with the team's record being 2–7. In his last game Waldorf was able to beat Stanford even though California was a 14-point underdog. The players knew that it was Waldorf's last game and following the win he was carried off the field on those players' shoulders. After the game Waldorf made his last speech from the north western gate of California's stadium. His final words to the approximately 18,000 fans before him where "I love you, and I always will." == Following coaching retirement ==