Walter Meadowfield Rheinschild (September 26, 1884 – October 3, 1960), known also by the nicknames "Rheiny" and "Rhino", was an American football player and coach. He played for the University of Michigan in 1904, 1905, and 1907, and was once "rated as the highest salaried amateur athlete in the business." He later coached for Washington State University in 1908, St. Vincent's College (now known as Loyola Marymount University) in 1909, Throop College (now known as California Institute of Technology) in 1913, and Occidental College in 1917.
Biography
Early years
Rheinschild was born in Lawrence, Kansas in 1884 and raised in Los Angeles, California. In the 1890s, Rheinschild began playing football for the Boyle Heights Stars in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles. With Rheinschild playing fullback, the Stars won what the Los Angeles Times called "the 'scrub' championship of this city."
In 1900, Rheinschild enrolled at Los Angeles High School, where he became "a gridiron hero." In 1901, he played tackle for the Los Angeles High School football team that tied Belmont High School for the state championship and defeated several college teams, including the University of Southern California (28–0), Pomona College (30–0), Occidental College (32–0), and St. Vincent's College (95–0). In 1902, the powerful Los Angeles High School team again defeated college teams, including USC, Occidental, Pomona and Throop College (now known as California Institute of Technology). In his senior year in 1903, Rheinschild led Los Angeles High School to the California state championship, culminating in an 11–0 victory over Berkeley High School in the championship game.
Rheinschild also organized the first track team at Los Angeles High School and was elected as the first captain of the track team.
Bidding for Rheinschild's services
Rheinschild was one of the most heavily recruited high school football players in the United States in 1904. USC coach Harvey Holmes recruited him strenuously, and Rheinschild later said that Holmes had offered him $75 a month for his services. At the time, USC was not a major football program, and Rheinschild reportedly wanted "nothing but the big league stuff." The University of Wisconsin made an offer to Rheinschild which he said was $25 higher than USC had offered. Rheinschild recalled, "Twelve hundred looked big to me, but I wanted a winner. Wisconsin had been a joke for many seasons and I couldn't see it." A former coach at Los Angeles High School, Shorty Roach, was a friend of Michigan coach Fielding H. Yost and a Michigan scout on the side. Roach encouraged Rheinschild to consider Michigan, which had not lost a game since 1900. A Wisconsin newspaper described the bidding contest between the University of Wisconsin and the University of Michigan for his services:
Walter Rheinschild, one of the best academic foot ball players in Southern California, is the object of spirited bidding by foot ball managers at Wisconsin and Michigan universities. Rheinschild was a star tackle on last year's local high school team. He weighs 190 pounds. He declares openly that Manager Baird of Michigan offered to pay all his expenses during the season and finally offered him remunerative employment. Wisconsin, he says, offered him all traveling expenses and $60 a month for two hours work a day at the state capital. Rheinschild leaves tomorrow for the east. If Michigan equals Wisconsin's offer he will go to Ann Arbor, if not, to Madison. At Kansas City he expects to receive Baird's highest offer.
Rheinschild was also visited by "a delegation" from Dartmouth College seeking "to do business with the California lad." Rheinschild later told the Los Angeles Times that Dartmouth had offered him $2,200 for a year's work on the football team. Rheinschild settled on Fielding Yost's team at Michigan and later told the Times that "he swears by all that is swearable that he never received a cent from his Alma Mater for his athletic contributions." Michigan's athletic director Charles A. Baird also denied making any offers of financial assistance to Rheinschild. However, when he rejected Dartmouth's offer of $2,200, eastern newspapers insinuated that Rheinschild had signed for "a Ty Cobb salary at Ann Arbor." It was rumored that Rheinschild was receiving as much as $50,000 a year at Michigan, which if true would be as much as the U.S. President at the time.
In a feature story on Rheinschild, the Los Angeles Times in 1914 summed up the bidding war for Rheinschild this way: