Larry Siemering

Larry Siemering
Biographical details
Born (1910-11-24)November 24, 1910
San Francisco, California
Died July 27, 2009(2009-07-27) (aged 98)
Watsonville, California
Playing career
1933–1934 San Francisco
1935–1936 Boston Redskins
Position(s) Center
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
c. 1940 Manteca HS (CA)
c. 1940 Stockton HS (CA)
1941–1946 Pacific (CA) (assistant)
1947–1950 Pacific (CA)
1951 Arizona State
1953 Washington Redskins (OL)
1954 Calgary Stampeders
1956–1958 Santa Cruz HS (CA)
1959–1965 Cabrillo College
Head coaching record
Overall 41–8–4 (college)
Bowls 1–0
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1 CCAA (1947)

Lawrence Edwin Siemering (November 24, 1910 – July 27, 2009) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at the University of San Francisco and professionally in the National Football League (NFL) with the Boston Redskins in 1935 and 1936. Siemering served as the head football coach at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California from 1947 to 1951 and at Arizona State University in 1951, compiling a career college football coached record of 41–8–4. He also was the head coach of the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeders in 1954. In all, Siemering's football career as a player and coach lasted more than forty years. At the time of his death, he was the oldest surviving professional football player at 98 years of age.[1]

Early life

Siemering was born in San Francisco and was raised in Lodi, California,[1][2] where he attended and played high school football at Lodi High School. During his senior season as a center, the Lodi Flames went undefeated.[2] He graduated in 1928. Also during this time, Siemering semi-pro baseball for the Sacramento Stallions.[3]

Playing career

College

After high school, Siemering accepted a baseball scholarship from the University of San Francisco,[3] where he then also played football.[1] He graduated in 1935.[4]

Professional

After his college career, Siemering played center in the National Football League for the Boston Redskins in 1935 and 1936; the Redskins moved to Washington, D.C. in 1937.[2] During his tenure there, he played in the 1936 NFL Championship, a loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Coaching career

High school

After his playing career, Siemering started his coaching career as a high school football coach at Manteca High School and Stockton High School[2] in the San Joaquin Valley.[1] In 1943, his Stockton team went undefeated.[3] Siemering then came back to high school coaching in 1956 at Santa Cruz High School, where he went 9–0 in 1958.[1]

College

Siemering started his college coaching career as an assistant coach at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, under head coach Amos Alonzo Stagg.[2] Stagg retired after the 1946 season, and Siemering took over as head coach in 1947. During his first season as coach, the Tigers went 10–1, the lone loss against Santa Clara, 21–20. At the end of the regular season, the Tigers played in the Raisin Bowl and beat the Wichita, 28–14.[5]

Siemering had another winning record in 1948 and went 7–3–1. However, he is best known for his 1949 Pacific team who went an undefeated 11–0. The team came close to losing only once in 1949, when it defeated the San Francisco in the first game of the season, 7–6. The Tigers outscored their opponents 575–66, led the nation in offense, and were ranked as high as tenth in the Associated Press poll.[1] During the season, the Tigers scored 75 points or more three times; 75–20 over Portland, 88–0 over Cal Poly, and 75–0 over the Hawaii.[6] The team was the 15th college team in history to score 500 or more points in a single season.[3]

During his four-year tenure at Pacific, Siemering went 35–5–3 and with a .875 winning percentage, was the winningest coach in Pacific's history.[2] He then coached at Arizona State University in 1951, where he went 6–3–1.[7] Despite the winning record, he was fired after using an ineligible player who used a fake name.[1]

After a brief second stint in high school teaching, Siemering then became the inaugural head coach of Cabrillo College, a two-year community college in Aptos, California.[8] He coached there from 1959 to 1965.[8] While at Cabrillo, he also coached the Seahawks' golf team until 1976.[8] Siemering was inducted into the first class of the University of Pacific Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982.[1] His 1947 and 1949 teams were inducted later.[4]

Professional

In 1953, Siemering was an offensive line coach for the Washington Redskins, under head coach Curly Lambeau. He then left the NFL in 1954 to become the head coach of the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League.[2]

Personal

Siemering was married to Sophie Siemering, who died in 2001.[1] On July 27, 2009, he died at Watsonville Community Hospital[2] after a fall at his Watsonville, California home.[1]

Head coaching record

College

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs AP#
Pacific Tigers (California Collegiate Athletic Association) (1947–1948)
1947 Pacific 10–1 1st W Raisin
1948 Pacific 7–1–2
Pacific Tigers (NCAA independent) (1949–1950)
1949 Pacific 11–0 10
1950 Pacific 7–3–1
Pacific: 35–5–3
Arizona State Sun Devils (Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1951)
1951 Arizona State 6–3–1 4–1 T–2nd
Arizona State: 6–3–1 4–1
Total: 41–8–4
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title
#Rankings from final AP Poll.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Nolte, Carl (July 30, 2009). "Larry Siemering, football coach, dies at 98". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Football pioneer Larry Siemering led a life of endless accomplishments". Lodi News-Sentinel. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Siemering's football teams were ahead of their time". RecordNet.com. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  4. 1 2 "Legendary Pacific coach dies at 98". RecordNet.com. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  5. "University of the Pacific - 1947". College Football Reference. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
  6. "University of the Pacific - 1949". College Football Reference. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
  7. "Arizona State University - 1951". College Football Reference. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
  8. 1 2 3 "Legendary football coach Larry Siemering, 98, dies". Mercury News. Retrieved August 2, 2009.

External links

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