[4] When he attended the University of Minnesota, however, he played college football under head coach Henry L. Williams and alongside halfback Bernie Bierman.

Notre Dame assistant coach Knute Rockne and Ray Morrison were both unable to travel to New Orleans for an interview, and Tulane officials required a face-to-face meeting with the applicants.

[13] The Milwaukee Journal credited Shaughnessy with building a formidable team at Tulane, and noted that he increased revenue and improved facilities, while he used the available players and did not pay them "a nickel".

[23] After the 1932 season, University of Chicago president Dr. Robert Maynard Hutchins forced out 70-year-old head coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, whom he considered too old for the position.

[34]: 157  The New Plan also hindered the availability of suitable football players: It encouraged younger students to enroll, discouraged the transfer of student-athletes, and had stringent academic requirements to maintain athletic eligibility.

"[34]: 159  Putting Chicago at further disadvantage to its Big Ten opponents, university president Hutchins would not countenance the establishment of a physical education major.

[40] Chicago moved to retain him, possibly with a salary increase,[41] and the Harvard job ultimately went to former Western Maryland coach Dick Harlow.

[45] President Hutchins, who hated the sport and said "there is no doubt that football has been a major handicap to education in the United States", successfully pushed to have the program disbanded.

[46] Shaughnessy could have remained at Chicago, where he held a "lifetime sinecure" as a physical education professor and earned a comfortable salary of $7,500 ($164,282 adjusted for inflation),[8] but he was intent on continuing to coach.

[45] In January 1940, Stanford University awarded a five-year contract to Shaughnessy as its head football coach, passing over predicted frontrunner John Bain Sutherland.

While he believed the Indians backfield was better than any such combination in the single-wing, double-wing, short punt, or box formations, he added the caveat that this held true only in the Stanford players' employment in the T-formation.

[45] Shaughnessy's version of the T formation relied on motion and deception, and therefore differed from its earlier 19th-century incarnations, such as that used by Amos Alonzo Stagg at the University of Chicago, which emphasized power.

[45] In one scrimmage, the varsity offense managed only a single touchdown against the freshman team, which prompted Shaughnessy to secretly draft a single-wing playbook in the event that the T formation failed.

[45] The 1940 season opened with Stanford facing the University of San Francisco Dons at Kezar Stadium as part of the first-ever major college football doubleheader.

[45] It also featured Santa Clara and Utah, but despite its unusual nature, the event was overshadowed by a concurrent game deemed much more significant between California and Michigan in nearby Berkeley.

Stanford, with a perfect 9–0 record, secured the Pacific Coast Conference championship and an invitation to the 1941 Rose Bowl, where they faced seventh-ranked Nebraska.

[60] Before the Rose Bowl, Shaughnessy lent help to his old associate George Halas of the Chicago Bears, which in Sid Luckman, had found a quarterback well suited to the T formation.

[61] At the end of the season, the Poling System named Stanford the national champions, and in later years, the Billingsley Report and Helms Athletic Foundation did likewise retroactively.

Shaughnessy and Halas taught coaching clinics, and Bears quarterback Sid Luckman installed the formation at his alma mater, Columbia.

[49] The T formation led to numerous derivatives, many of which remain in use today, including the power I, pro set, veer, wishbone,[45] split T, wing T, and West Coast offense.

[71] A 1977 Sports Illustrated article reported that he decided to leave when he realized Stanford might discontinue its football program during World War II.

"[83] In March 1944, Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall hired Shaughnessy as an advisor,[84] a position he held concurrently with his duties at Pittsburgh.

[87] In February 1946, Shaughnessy accepted an offer to return to Maryland amidst mounting criticism at Pittsburgh, which included the threat of resignation from assistant coaches Charles Hartwig, Bobby Hoel and Stan Olenn.

[87] Shaughnessy said, "The funny part of it is that I gave Maryland the roughest deal I have ever given anyone in my life, and when Dr. [Byrd] offered me a chance to come back, I accepted.

[92] The Post ran another quote that Shaughnessy admitted was accurate: "There are some boys on this team who would have been fired a long time ago by another coach for their personal conduct.

"[92] After the season, it was rumored that the Redskins were interested in promoting him to replace head coach Turk Edwards, but the franchise denied it and Shaughnessy would not comment on his plans.

[74] Shaughnessy said he would work full-time for the Redskins for the remaining year on his contract, and might return to coach only college football at the end of his term, possibly with Maryland.

"[97] Stydahar, however, led the Rams to the National Conference Championship that season, and the team set numerous NFL passing and scoring records.

[45] During a 1945 press conference while coach at Pittsburgh, Shaughnessy responded to criticism that he had been too conservative in a 6–0 win over Temple and taken too many risks in a 39–9 loss to Notre Dame.

"[111] After he joined the Chicago Bears' staff, sportswriter Roger Treat said, "I always looked upon Clark Shaughnessy as a conscientious idealist who might better have followed the trail of Father Flanagan of Boys Town.