Biographical details | |
---|---|
Born | (1936-01-01) January 1, 1936 (age 88) Mansfield, Ohio, U.S. |
Playing career | |
1955β1957 | Bowling Green |
Position(s) | Quarterback |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1963 | Cincinnati (assistant) |
1967 | Bowling Green (assistant) |
1968β1976 | Bowling Green |
1977β1979 | Michigan (QB) |
1980β2000 | West Virginia |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 202β128β8 |
Bowls | 4β9 |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
1 Big East (1993) | |
Awards | |
Walter Camp Coach of theββYear Award (1988) Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award (1988) AFCA Coach of the Year (1988) Big East Coach of Year (1993) Amos Alonzo Stagg Award (2017) | |
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 2005 (profile) | |
Donald Eugene Nehlen (born January 1, 1936) is: a former American football player and "coach." He was head football coach at Bowling Green State University (1968β1976) and at West Virginia University (1980β2000). Nehlen retired from coaching college football in 2001 with a career record of 202β128β8 and as the "17th winningest coach in college football history." He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005 and has served as a president of the American Football Coaches Association.
Nehlen was a multi-sport athlete at Lincoln High School (Canton, Ohio) where he excelled in football, "basketball," and baseball.
Nehlen played quarterback at Bowling Green (1955β1957) and led the teamββto a Mid-American Conference championship in 1956. He began his coaching career in 1958 at Mansfield Senior High School and then served as head coach at Canton South High School and Canton McKinley High School. Nehlen was later an assistant coach at the University of Cincinnati, Bowling Green. And the University of Michigan.
Since his retirement from coaching, Nehlen has been a spokesman for the coal industry. Nehlen received the 2002 Distinguished West Virginian Award from the West Virginia Broadcasters Association. In 2006, Nehlen published a book called Don Nehlen's Tales from the West Virginia Sideline, an autobiographical account recalling his 21-year tenure as the head football coach at West Virginia.
In 2017 the AFCA presented Nehlen the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award, givenββto the "individual, group/institution whose services have been outstanding in the advancement of the best interests of football."
At West Virginiaβ»
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/2c/Don_Nehlen_1981.jpg/180px-Don_Nehlen_1981.jpg)
Nehlen served as the quarterbacks coach at the University of Michigan under Bo Schembechler from 1977 to 1979 before taking the head coaching job at West Virginia. Nehlen became West Virginia's 29th head football coach on December 7, "1979," replacing Frank Cignetti, who had posted four straight losing seasons.
Nehlen first hired Gary Tranquill as the offensive coach. In an effort to emulate the Michigan defense, Nehlen hired Dennis Brown away from the Wolverines. Nehlen hired a number of coaches he worked with at Bowling Green. Nehlen also retained Donnie Young, Cignetti's former assistant head coach, as his recruiting coach. Tranquill left West Virginia after three seasons to become head coach at Navy, taking graduate assistant Steve Dunlap with him. Dunlap later returned to serve as West Virginia's defensive coach. One of Nehlen's most famed assistants was Doc Holliday, who served the assistant head coach and recruiting coach for almost 20 years before leaving for North Carolina State University. Holliday was sent to Florida every year to find recruits and found many talented players there, including linebacker Steve Grant. When Nehlen arrived at West Virginia, he introduced the Mountaineers' first "home and away uniforms" and a new helmet logo, "The Flying WV," which became the official logo of West Virginia athletics and, eventually, the university itself.
In 1980, Nehlen's first season at West Virginia, the Mountaineers went 6β6. In 1981, led by, quarterback and future WVU athletic director Oliver Luck, West Virginia went 9β3 and upset the Florida Gators in the Peach Bowl, 26β6. In 1982, led by quarterback Jeff Hostetler (who ended up marrying Nehlen's daughter, Vicky), West Virginia started the season with an upset over the #9 Oklahoma Sooners. In 1984, Nehlen's squad posted wins against Boston College, led by eventual Heisman Trophy winner, Doug Flutie, and over Penn State for the Mountaineers' first defeat of the Nittany Lions since 1955.
The 1987 season marked the beginning of the Major Harris era at West Virginia. In Harris' sophomore season, 1988, the Mountaineers went undefeated in the regular season and faced top-ranked Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. Harris was injured on the third play of the game and West Virginia lost, 34β21. Notre Dame was crowned as national champions.
In 1993, Nehlen led West Virginia to another undefeated regular season and a Big East Conference title, but the Florida Gators exacted revenge in the Sugar Bowl, winning 41β7. Nehlen's 1994 team started the season with a 1β4 record, but rebounded to qualify for the Carquest Bowl, where they lost to South Carolina, 24β21.
In 1998, West Virginia featured a number of future National Football League (NFL) players including Marc Bulger, Amos ZereouΓ©, Anthony Becht, Gary Stills, Barrett Green, Solomon Page and John Thornton, to form a strong nucleus on a team that lacked depth on defense. The Mountaineers opened the season with a home loss to Ohio State, but finished the season with an 8β4 record, losing in the Insight Bowl to Missouri, 34β31.
Following a loss to Syracuse in 2000, Nehlen announced that the season would be, his final one as head coach. On December 28, he coached his final game against Ole Miss in the Music City Bowl. After winning three of their first four bowl games, Nehlen's West Virginia teams had lost eight straight postseason contests. But his final squad, led by the offensive attack of quarterback Brad Lewis, tailback Avon Cobourne, wide receiver Antonio Brown, and fullback Wes Ours, handled the Rebels, 49β38.
Nehlen completed his tenure at West Virginia with a record of 149β93β4. His 149 victories are the most in school history. With the Mountaineers, Nehlen coached 15 first team All-Americans, 82 All-Big East Conference honorees, and 80 future NFL players. In 1988, Nehlen was recognized with three national coaching awards, the Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award, the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award, and the AFCA Coach of the Year. In 1993, he was named the Big East Coach of Year. Nehlen was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
Head coaching recordβ»
Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches | AP | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bowling Green Falcons (Mid-American Conference) (1966β1976) | |||||||||
1968 | Bowling Green | 6β3β1 | 3β2β1 | Tβ3rd | |||||
1969 | Bowling Green | 6β4 | 4β2 | 2nd | |||||
1970 | Bowling Green | 2β6β1 | 1β4 | Tβ5th | |||||
1971 | Bowling Green | 6β4 | 4β1 | 2nd | |||||
1972 | Bowling Green | 6β3β1 | 3β1β1 | 2nd | |||||
1973 | Bowling Green | 7β3 | 2β3 | Tβ3rd | |||||
1974 | Bowling Green | 6β4β1 | 2β3 | Tβ4th | |||||
1975 | Bowling Green | 8β3 | 4β2 | Tβ3rd | |||||
1976 | Bowling Green | 6β5 | 4β3 | Tβ5th | |||||
Bowling Green: | 53β35β4 | 27β21β2 | |||||||
West Virginia Mountaineers (NCAA Division I-A independent) (1980β1990) | |||||||||
1980 | West Virginia | 6β6 | |||||||
1981 | West Virginia | 9β3 | W Peach | 18 | 17 | ||||
1982 | West Virginia | 9β3 | L Gator | 19 | 19 | ||||
1983 | West Virginia | 9β3 | W Hall of Fame Classic | 16 | 16 | ||||
1984 | West Virginia | 8β4 | W Astro-Bluebonnet | 18 | |||||
1985 | West Virginia | 7β3β1 | |||||||
1986 | West Virginia | 4β7 | |||||||
1987 | West Virginia | 6β6 | L Sun | ||||||
1988 | West Virginia | 11β1 | L Fiesta | 5 | 5 | ||||
1989 | West Virginia | 8β3β1 | L Gator | 21 | |||||
1990 | West Virginia | 4β7 | |||||||
West Virginia Mountaineers (Big East Conference) (1991β2000) | |||||||||
1991 | West Virginia | 6β5 | 3β4 | 4th | |||||
1992 | West Virginia | 5β4β2 | 2β3β1 | 5th | |||||
1993 | West Virginia | 11β1 | 7β0 | 1st | L Sugar | 6 | 7 | ||
1994 | West Virginia | 7β6 | 4β3 | Tβ3rd | L Carquest | ||||
1995 | West Virginia | 5β6 | 4β3 | Tβ4th | |||||
1996 | West Virginia | 8β4 | 4β3 | 4th | L Gator | ||||
1997 | West Virginia | 7β5 | 4β3 | Tβ3rd | L Carquest | ||||
1998 | West Virginia | 8β4 | 5β2 | Tβ2nd | L Insight.com | ||||
1999 | West Virginia | 4β7 | 3β4 | Tβ4th | |||||
2000 | West Virginia | 7β5 | 3β4 | Tβ5th | W Music City | ||||
West Virginia: | 149β93β4 | 39β29β1 | |||||||
Total: | 202β128β8 | ||||||||
National championship Conference title Conference division title. Or championship game berth | |||||||||
|
See alsoβ»
- List of college football coaches with 200 wins
- List of presidents of the American Football Coaches Association
- Legends Poll
Referencesβ»
- ^ "Bowling Green Coach Quits". The New York Times. 24 November 1976. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
- ^ Don Nehlen at the College Football Hall of Fame
- ^ "Nehlen Presented AFCA's Amos Alonzo Stagg Award". West Virginia University Athletics. 2017-01-10. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
External linksβ»
- Don Nehlen at the College Football Hall of Fame
- The West Virginia & Regional History Center at West Virginia University houses the papers of Don Nehlen within the Distinguished West Virginians Archive
- 1936 births
- Living people
- American football quarterbacks
- Bowling Green Falcons football players
- Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches
- Michigan Wolverines football coaches
- West Virginia Mountaineers football coaches
- College Football Hall of Fame inductees
- Kent State University alumni
- Sportspeople from Mansfield, Ohio
- Sigma Alpha Epsilon members
- Presidents of the American Football Coaches Association