Introduction
Walter Edwin McCornack (January 22, 1875 – June 30, 1939) was an American football player, coach, and lawyer. He served as the head football coach at Dartmouth College from 1901 to 1902 and at Northwestern University from 1903 to 1905, compiling a career college football record of 41–8–5. McCornack's record at Northwestern was 26–5–4. His winning percentage of .800 is the highest in Northwestern Wildcats football program history.
McCornack was born in Chicago, Illinois on January 22, 1875. He attended Chicago's Englewood High School before entering Dartmouth with the class of 1897. At Dartmouth, McCornack played football and baseball and was the captain of the football team in 1895 and 1896. McCornack graduated from Dartmouth in 1897 an earned an LLB from Northwestern in 1899. He worked as a lawyer for the Interstate Commerce Commission. McCornack died at his home in Chicago on June 30, 1939.
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dartmouth (Independent) (1901–1902) | |||||||||
| 1901 | Dartmouth | 9–1 | |||||||
| 1902 | Dartmouth | 6–2–1 | |||||||
| Dartmouth: | 15–3–1 | ||||||||
| Northwestern Purple (Big Ten Conference) (1903–1905) | |||||||||
| 1903 | Northwestern | 10–1–3 | 1–0–2 | T–1st | |||||
| 1904 | Northwestern | 8–2 | 1–2 | T–5th | |||||
| 1905 | Northwestern | 8–2–1 | 0–2 | T–7th | |||||
| Northwestern: | 26–5–4 | 2–4–2 | |||||||
| Total: | 41–8–5 | ||||||||