Wally Lemm
Encyclopedia
Wally Lemm was a football
coach at the high school, collegiate and professional levels and achieved his greatest prominence as head coach of the American Football League
's Houston Oilers and the National Football League
's St. Louis Cardinals (football)
.
Lemm graduated from Carroll College
(Wisconsin
) in 1942 playing football for head coach John Breen at running back. After service in World War II
during the next two years, Lemm then served as an assistant coach at the University of Notre Dame
under Hugh Devore
in 1945. Lemm returned to Carroll as an assistant coach with the school's football team the following year, then became a head coach for the first time, accepting the top job for Waukesha High School, in Wisconsin
, in 1948.
Following Lemm's one year at Waukesha, Carroll's former coach, Breen, took the head coaching position at Lake Forest College
. Lemm served under his leadership for the next three years, while also working as the school's head basketball coach, then replaced Breen in 1952. During his two seasons, he compiled an 11-4-1 record before leaving to accept the head coach position at Montana State University. An 8-1 season in 1954 was followed the next year by a 4-4-1 campaign. On May 14, 1956, he reached the NFL when he accepted a defensive assistant position with the Chicago Cardinals
.
Lemm spent just one season before resigning to again accept the head coaching position at Lake Forest. During the next two years, he nearly matched his previous stint at the school with an 11-5 record, winning District Coach of the Year accolades in 1957 from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
(NAIA). On February 21, 1959, he returned to an assistant's role with the Cardinals, and would remain at the professional level for the remainder of his career.
After again spending a single season with the Cardinals, Lemm resigned on January 12, 1960 to accept an assistant coaching position with the Houston Oilers of the seminal American Football League
. During the first season of play, the Oilers captured the league's first-ever title, but Lemm resigned after the season, returning to Libertyville, Illinois
to work in the sporting goods industry.
However, after a slow start to the 1961 season that saw the team with a 1-3-1 record, Oilers' head coach Lou Rymkus
was fired. Lemm was offered the position by his former coach John Breen, the Oilers' Director of Player Personnel, and proceeded to lead the team to nine straight victories. The team then won its second straight title with a 10-3 win over the San Diego Chargers
on December 24, 1961, and Lemm was named AFL Coach of the Year for his efforts.
After orally agreeing to a contract for the next season, Lemm instead resigned on February 22, 1962 to take the top spot with the Cardinals, citing the proximity of St. Louis to his home in Lake Bluff, Illinois
. He replaced Pop Ivy
at St. Louis, and Ivy replaced Lemm at Houston! After a 4-9-1 record in his first year, Lemm came close to capturing the NFL's Eastern Conference title with a 9-5 season in 1963 and a 9-3-2 mark the following year. After signing a contract with a huge pay increase, the Cardinals crashed in 1965 with a 5-9 mark, with Lemm seemingly having job security. However, after Lemm was asked to stay in St. Louis as a full-time coach, he resigned on January 10, 1966, again citing family considerations. Oddly, he then accepted the head coaching job with his former team in Houston 19 days later.
The Oilers struggled in 1966 with a 3-11 record, but bounced back in 1967 with a 9-4-1 record and a spot in the AFL Championship game. After a 40-7 thrashing at the hands of the Oakland Raiders
, the Oilers again reached the postseason in 1969 compiling a mediocre 6-6-2 record and were again dismantled by the Raiders, 56-7, in the AFL's oddly constructed one year playoff system. For that season the first place team of the West played the second place team of the East and vice versa. The team's first year in the post-merger NFL, 1970, finished with a disastrous 3-10-1 mark. Following a 44-0 loss to his former team in St. Louis on November 1, 1970, Lemm announced he would be retiring at the conclusion of the year, this time citing health issues. Lemm's final game came on December 20 of that year, a 52-10 loss to the Oilers' Lone Star State rivals, the Dallas Cowboys
.
Lemm stayed off the sidelines for the final 18 years of his life, dying on October 2, 1988, just three weeks short of his 69th birthday.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
coach at the high school, collegiate and professional levels and achieved his greatest prominence as head coach of the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
's Houston Oilers and the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's St. Louis Cardinals (football)
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
Lemm graduated from Carroll College
Carroll College (Wisconsin)
Carroll University is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian church located in Waukesha in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Carroll opened in 1846, two years before Wisconsin became a state...
(Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
) in 1942 playing football for head coach John Breen at running back. After service in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
during the next two years, Lemm then served as an assistant coach at the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
under Hugh Devore
Hugh Devore
Hugh John Devore was a football player and coach whose close connection to the University of Notre Dame saw him serve in both capacities, while also seeing time as head coach at two other colleges as well as the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles.-Early career:Devore was born and...
in 1945. Lemm returned to Carroll as an assistant coach with the school's football team the following year, then became a head coach for the first time, accepting the top job for Waukesha High School, in Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, in 1948.
Following Lemm's one year at Waukesha, Carroll's former coach, Breen, took the head coaching position at Lake Forest College
Lake Forest College
Lake Forest College, founded in 1857, is a private liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. The college has 1,500 students representing 47 states and 78 countries....
. Lemm served under his leadership for the next three years, while also working as the school's head basketball coach, then replaced Breen in 1952. During his two seasons, he compiled an 11-4-1 record before leaving to accept the head coach position at Montana State University. An 8-1 season in 1954 was followed the next year by a 4-4-1 campaign. On May 14, 1956, he reached the NFL when he accepted a defensive assistant position with the Chicago Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
Lemm spent just one season before resigning to again accept the head coaching position at Lake Forest. During the next two years, he nearly matched his previous stint at the school with an 11-5 record, winning District Coach of the Year accolades in 1957 from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...
(NAIA). On February 21, 1959, he returned to an assistant's role with the Cardinals, and would remain at the professional level for the remainder of his career.
After again spending a single season with the Cardinals, Lemm resigned on January 12, 1960 to accept an assistant coaching position with the Houston Oilers of the seminal American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
. During the first season of play, the Oilers captured the league's first-ever title, but Lemm resigned after the season, returning to Libertyville, Illinois
Libertyville, Illinois
Libertyville is an affluent northern suburb of Chicago in Lake County, Illinois, United States. It is located west of Lake Michigan on the Des Plaines River. The 2000 census population was 20,742; the 2005 estimate was 21,760...
to work in the sporting goods industry.
However, after a slow start to the 1961 season that saw the team with a 1-3-1 record, Oilers' head coach Lou Rymkus
Lou Rymkus
Louis Joseph Rymkus was a football player and coach in the National Football League who was a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988 and also served as the first head coach of the American Football League's Houston Oilers for 1960, winning the league's first championship, but being...
was fired. Lemm was offered the position by his former coach John Breen, the Oilers' Director of Player Personnel, and proceeded to lead the team to nine straight victories. The team then won its second straight title with a 10-3 win over the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
on December 24, 1961, and Lemm was named AFL Coach of the Year for his efforts.
After orally agreeing to a contract for the next season, Lemm instead resigned on February 22, 1962 to take the top spot with the Cardinals, citing the proximity of St. Louis to his home in Lake Bluff, Illinois
Lake Bluff, Illinois
Lake Bluff is a village in Lake County, Illinois. It is the closest moderate-sized town near the Great Lakes Navy Base and is North of Lake Forest. The population is 6,056 according to the 2000 census. The town has a police department and volunteer fire department.-History:In 1836, John and...
. He replaced Pop Ivy
Pop Ivy
Frank "Pop" Ivy was a football player and coach who holds the unique distinction of being the only person ever to serve as a head coach in the National Football League, the American Football League and the Western Interprovincial Football Union.A native of Skiatook, Oklahoma, Ivy was part Native...
at St. Louis, and Ivy replaced Lemm at Houston! After a 4-9-1 record in his first year, Lemm came close to capturing the NFL's Eastern Conference title with a 9-5 season in 1963 and a 9-3-2 mark the following year. After signing a contract with a huge pay increase, the Cardinals crashed in 1965 with a 5-9 mark, with Lemm seemingly having job security. However, after Lemm was asked to stay in St. Louis as a full-time coach, he resigned on January 10, 1966, again citing family considerations. Oddly, he then accepted the head coaching job with his former team in Houston 19 days later.
The Oilers struggled in 1966 with a 3-11 record, but bounced back in 1967 with a 9-4-1 record and a spot in the AFL Championship game. After a 40-7 thrashing at the hands of the Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, the Oilers again reached the postseason in 1969 compiling a mediocre 6-6-2 record and were again dismantled by the Raiders, 56-7, in the AFL's oddly constructed one year playoff system. For that season the first place team of the West played the second place team of the East and vice versa. The team's first year in the post-merger NFL, 1970, finished with a disastrous 3-10-1 mark. Following a 44-0 loss to his former team in St. Louis on November 1, 1970, Lemm announced he would be retiring at the conclusion of the year, this time citing health issues. Lemm's final game came on December 20 of that year, a 52-10 loss to the Oilers' Lone Star State rivals, the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
.
Lemm stayed off the sidelines for the final 18 years of his life, dying on October 2, 1988, just three weeks short of his 69th birthday.