In memoriam: Ambrose Schindler, member of 1939 national championship team and Rose Bowl MVP

Ambrose “Amblin’ Amby” Schindler, a member of USC’s 1939 national championship football team and the Player of the Game of the 1940 Rose Bowl, died on Dec. 30, 2018, in Redondo Beach. He was 101. His death is just being reported.

Schindler lettered for three years (1936-37 and 1939) as a quarterback at USC, playing for head coach Howard Jones. He scored a touchdown and threw another to help USC beat Tennessee 14-0 in the 1940 Rose Bowl. Those were the only points scored on the Volunteers all season, and the loss snapped their 23-game winning streak.

Schindler earned All-Conference first team honors in 1937 when he led the Trojans in rushing (599 yards), total offense (868 yards) and scoring (54 points). He played in the College All-Star Game in Chicago in 1940, earning MVP honors.

He was a 13th-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in the 1940 NFL Draft, but decided instead to get into coaching and officiating.  He coached at Glendale High School and, after a stint in the Navy during World War II, at El Camino Junior College. He also was a longtime referee in high school, college and the American Football League.

Schindler was inducted into the San Diego Hall of Champions in 1973, USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997 and Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2002.

He came to USC from San Diego High School.

While at USC, he also acted in Hollywood, even appearing in The Wizard of Oz as the stunt double for Jack Haley (The Tin Man) and playing a Winkie Guard.