End/Tackle
All-American Honorable Mention, 1937
All-Pacific Coast, 1936 and 1937
Selected Team MVP Multiple Times; Recipient of USF's Boyle Award
USF Career Years: 1934-1937
Birthdate: October 2, 1915
Hometown: San Francisco
High School: Mission High School
Alexander Schwarz was born on October 2, 1915, in San Francisco and attended Mission High School, where he earned All-City Lineman honors in football in 1932.
He played for the Dons from 1934 to 1937 as an end and as a tackle, earning All-Pacific Coast Conference in 1936 and 1937 as well as an Honorable Mention All-American in 1937. He played nearly the entire game against the Michigan State Spartans, despite reportedly being knocked unconscious three times. When he left the game in the fourth quarter, Michigan State players gave him a standing ovation. Spartan Head Coach Charley Bachman said he was the best lineman he had seen all season.
Following graduation in 1937 with a Degree in Business, Schwarz was drafted by the Chicago Bears but decided not to pursue a professional career due to a neck injury. Schwarz entered the field of Education and in 1942 began coaching football at Saint Ignatius College Preparatory taking them to a championship in 1945. He also coached their basketball team to an undefeated season in 1943. Father John LoSchiavo, the former USF President who played on his team in 1942 at Saint Ignatius Preparatory, said: “I never heard him use a profanity, and he never yelled at us. He was the kind of coach that players would run through a wall for.” He also coached football and basketball at Mission High School, and was a professor at City College of San Francisco until his retirement in 1981.
Former Minnesota Viking Quarterback Bob Lee who played at City College when Schwarz was an Assistant Coach there said, “I named my oldest son after him. He was a mentor to so many people in so many ways. It wasn’t just football.” Lee recalls receiving encouraging letters from Schwarz while playing for the Vikings: “Just when you needed a boost, there would be a note in the mail (SFGate).”
Schwarz was inducted into the Mission High School Hall of Fame, the San Francisco Preparatory Hall of Fame in 2004, and the USF Hall of Fame in 1959.
