The story of how Jesuit Dallas picked up the nickname “Rangers” is the stuff of legend, as no documentation has ever been found to indicate the complete origins of the name. What is known, is that the term has been affectionately used to describe our students and athletic teams since 1942, soon after the School first opened its doors.
Students who were present when the name was adopted have said that much of the credit can be traced back to Eddie Maher, son of one of the most prominent Ford dealers in Dallas and the first head coach of the Jesuit football program. Coach Maher’s family hailed from Ranger, Texas, and according to Pat Schnitzius ’45, “Coach Maher suggested the name Rangers, and taking into consideration that the Texas Rangers were a great force upholding law and order in Texas history, the students liked it. Just like the Jesuit student body at the time, the Rangers were few, but they were fierce.” At the same time, there was a stray dog who had “the run of the School” during that first year. Part red chow, the dog not only attended practice, but was a constant presence on the School grounds. Needing a name, the students started calling the dog Ranger.
During that same year, the Jesuit seal was developed by Bill Underhill, Robert Mullen and David O’Brien. Taking a cue from the students who were already using the Ranger name and looking to integrate an element symbolic of the early days of the Texas industry into the design, a cowboy on a bucking bronco was incorporated into the seal thus cementing the Ranger permanently into Jesuit lore.
