From Rice Lake, Wisconsin, Francis came to the U of M as it was ascending to be a national power. In an era before recruiting Lund came to the team without anyone knowing anything about him. A journalist asked him his name and he responded. `Francis. God, Francis is a helluva name for a football player. Don't you have a nickname?' Bernie Swanson a reporter for the Minneapolis Journal replied. One of Francis’ teammates Al Papas replied “Call him Pug” and the nickname stuck.
Described by later sportswriters as, "modest to the point of bashfulness" Pug stood out from the beginning of his time in Dinkytown.