A star quarterback for the USC Trojans, during the 1937 season he led the team in rushing, scoring and total offense and was named to all-conference honors.

At the time of his death, Schindler was one of the last surviving living people working on the film classic, having outlived all major cast members, original Tin Man Buddy Ebsen, and adult Munchkins (Jerry Maren died several months before him).

[4] At the time, coaching at high school and college offered more financial security than the low pay NFL of the early 1940s; he would later admit that he had lifelong doubts about his decision.

He served in the Navy during World War II and returned to move into a long career as coach and instructor at El Camino College in Torrance, California.

[2] His descendants noted that Schindler had suffered several concussions during his college career and that his short-term memory during his 90s had deteriorated rapidly compared to his sister's at a similar age; thus not going professional as a football player may have spared him from worse chronic traumatic encephalopathy.