Oscar Martin "Ossie" Solem (December 13, 1891 – October 26, 1970) was an American football player, coach of football and basketball, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa (1920), Drake University (1921–1931), the University of Iowa (1932–1936), Syracuse University (1937–1945), and Springfield College (1946–1957), compiling a career college football record of 162–117–20. From 1913 until 1920, Solem was the head coach of the Minneapolis Marines, prior to that team's entry into the National Football League (NFL). During his time with the Marines, Solem introduced the team to the single-wing formation, developed by the famed coach, Pop Warner, and used by the University of Minnesota, where Solem had played football. Solem was also the head basketball coach at Drake University for four seasons, from 1921 to 1925, tallying a mark of 37–31. Playing and early coaching career Solem played end at the University of Minnesota for Henry L. Williams from 1910 to 1912. He then began his coaching career, coaching for a pre-National Football League (NFL) professional football franchise called the Minneapolis Marines. He coached there for three years from 1913 to 1915 before coaching a few years of high school football at East Des Moines High School and South High School of Minneapolis. Solem began his college coaching career at Luther College in 1920. After one year there, he was named head coach and athletic director at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa in 1921. Solem served as Drake's head football coach and athletic director for 11 years from 1921 to 1931. From 1926 to 1931, he also served as the director of the Drake Relays. Coaching career at Iowa In 1932, Solem signed a three-year contract to succeed Burt Ingwersen as the 13th head football coach at the University of Iowa. He took over an Iowa football program that had recently been suspended from athletic competition in the Big Ten Conference for a month. More importantly, the Hawkeye program was suffering from the effects of the Great Depression. Since Iowa was a predominantly agricultural state, the Depression hit the Hawkeye athletic program particularly hard. The school could not even afford to pay Solem his full salary when he was first hired. After winning the opening game of the 1932 season, Iowa lost their final seven games of the year. In the off-season, Solem loudly complained that athletes were being