Leonard J. Umnus - Misplaced Pages

American sports coach (1903–1996)

Leonard J. Umnus
Biographical details

Born	(1903-04-18)April 18, 1903 Menominee, Michigan, U.S.
Died	April 13, 1996(1996-04-13) (aged 92) Watertown, Wisconsin, U.S.
Playing career
Football
1922–1924	Illinois

Position(s)	Center
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1925–1927	Fairmount/Wichita
1929	Illinois (freshmen line)
1930	Tracy HS (CA)
1932–1933	Jordan College
1935–1970	Northwestern (WI)
Basketball
1925–1928	Fairmount/Wichita
Baseball
1930	Tracy HS (CA)
Track and field
1925–1928	Fairmount

Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1925–1928	Fairmount

Accomplishments and honors
Awards
Wisconsin Football Coaches Hall of Fame Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame (2010)

Leonard John Umnus (April 18, 1903 – April 13, 1996) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Fairmont College (now known as Wichita State University) in Wichita, Kansas from 1925 to 1927, Jordan College in Menominee, Michigan from 1932 to 1933, and Northwestern College (later merge into Martin Luther College) in Watertown, Wisconsin from 1935 to 1970.

Playing career

Umnus enrolled at the University of Illinois in the fall of 1921. While at Illinois he played football with Red Grange under coach Robert Zuppke. Umnus was awarded "letters" for three years as a center and guard. He also was awarded athletic letters for Illinois in boxing.

Coaching career

In 1925, Umnus was hired as the athletic director at Fairmont College—now known as Wichita State University—in Wichita, Kansas, succeeding Sam H. Hill. He served as the head football coach at the school from 1925 to 1927,compiling a record of 12–7–4. He also coached the basketball team for three seasons, tallying a mark of 47–14.

In 1929, Umnus returned to his alma mater, Illinois, as line coach for the freshman football team, assistant Carl M. Voyles, head coach of the freshman team. He earned a master's degree of the University of Iowa, and in late 1929, he was hired as athletic coach and physical education director at Tracy High School in Tracy, California, a position he took up in early 1930. That spring, Tracy was retained for the 1930–31 school year. in 1932, Umnus was appointed head athletic coach at Jordan College in Menominee, Michigan. He resigned from his post at Jordan College in 1934.

Umnus later coached at Northwestern College in Watertown, Wisconsin, which was later merged into Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minnesota. He was the head football coach at the school for 35 seasons and his teams produced a record of 135–64–9. At Northwestern, he coached all sports including baseball, basketball, tennis, and wrestling.

Death

Umnus died in 1996.

Head coaching record

College football


Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing
Fairmount Wheatshockers / Wichita Shockers (Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference) (1925–1927)
1925	Fairmount	3–1–4	3–0–4	3rd
1926	Wichita	6–2	5–1	4th
1927	Wichita	3–4	2–4	T–10th
Fairmount/Wichita:		12–7–4	10–5–4
Jordan (Independent) (1932–1933)
1932	Jordan
1933	Jordan
Jordan:
Northwestern Trojans (Tri-State Intercollegiate / Badger State Intercollegiate / Badger-Illini Conference) (1935–1956)
1935	Northwestern	4–2–1	3–1–1	T–2nd
1936	Northwestern	3–3
1937	Northwestern	5–2		1st
1938	Northwestern	4–2		1st
1939	Northwestern	3–1–2
1940	Northwestern	2–4
1941	Northwestern	5–1–1		T–1st
1942	Northwestern	3–2	3–1	T–1st
1943	No team–World War II
1944	No team–World War II
1945	Northwestern	5–1
1946	Northwestern	3–2–1	2–0–1	1st
1947	Northwestern	5–2	3–1	T–1st
1948	Northwestern	6–2	5–1	T–1st
1949	Northwestern	3–4	3–4	5th
1950	Northwestern	5–1	5–1	2nd
1951	Northwestern	6–0–1	6–0–1	1st
1952	Northwestern			1st
1953	Northwestern			1st
1954	Northwestern			1st
1955	Northwestern	6–1	5–1	T–1st
1956	Northwestern		3–2	T–2nd
Northwestern Trojans (Badger-Gopher Conference) (1957–1961)
1957	Northwestern
1958	Northwestern
1959	Northwestern
1960	Northwestern
1961	Northwestern
Northwestern Trojans (Gateway Conference) (1962–1970)
1962	Northwestern		1–2	4th
1963	Northwestern		3–1	1st
1964	Northwestern	4–2	3–1	2nd
1965	Northwestern	6–1	4–0	1sts
1966	Northwestern	3–5	2–1	2nd
1967	Northwestern	1–7	1–3	4th
1968	Northwestern		1–3	4th
1969	Northwestern		1–3	T–3rd
1970	Northwestern		1–3	4th
Northwestern:		135–64–9
Total:
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth

References

^ "Leonard Umnus - Northwestern College in Watertown". Wisconsin Football Coaches Association. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
"Umnus Of Illinois To Coach Shockers Succeeding Hill". The Wichita Eagle. Wichita, Kansas. May 21, 1925. p. 8. Retrieved December 29, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
"NCAA Statistics; Coach; Leonard Umnus; Football". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
"NCAA Statistics; Coach; Leonard Umnus; Men's Basketball". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
"Leonard Umnus Named As Frosh Coach". The Urbana Daily Courier. Urbana, Illinois. September 21, 1929. p. 6. Retrieved December 29, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
"Illinois Man To Coach At Tracy". Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. December 16, 1929. p. 20. Retrieved December 29, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
"Leonard Umnus To Return As Coach As Tracy High School". Tracy Press. Tracy, California. June 6, 1930. p. 1. Retrieved December 29, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
"Umnus Named Jordan Coach". The Escanaba Daily Press. Escanaba, Michigan. August 10, 1932. p. 8. Retrieved December 29, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
"Jordan And Michigan Tech Teams Will Play Here October 19". The Escanaba Daily Press. Escanaba, Michigan. April 14, 1934. p. 11. Retrieved December 29, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
"Len Umnus - Class of 2010". Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved December 29, 2024.

v t e Wichita State Shockers athletic directors
Sam H. Hill (1923–1925) Leonard J. Umnus (1925–1928) Sam H. Hill (1928–1930) Al Gebert (1930–1942) Ralph Graham (1942–1947) Jim Trimble (–1951) Norvell Neve (1951–1955) Robert P. Kirkpatrick (1955–1959) Tippy Dye (1959–1962) Noah G. Allen (1965–1968) Bert Katzenmeyer (1968–1970) Cecil Coleman (1971–1972) Ted Bredehoft (1972–1982) Lew Perkins (1983–1987) Tom Shupe (1987–1992) Gary Hunter (1992–1993) Darlene Bailey # (1993) Bill Belknap (1993–1999) Jim Schaus (1999–2008) Eric Sexton (2008–2015) Darron Boatright (2015–2022) Sarah Adams # (2022) Kevin Saal (2022– ) # denotes interim athletic director

Wichita State Shockers athletic directors

Sam H. Hill (1923–1925)
Leonard J. Umnus (1925–1928)
Sam H. Hill (1928–1930)
Al Gebert (1930–1942)
Ralph Graham (1942–1947)
Jim Trimble (–1951)
Norvell Neve (1951–1955)
Robert P. Kirkpatrick (1955–1959)
Tippy Dye (1959–1962)
Noah G. Allen (1965–1968)
Bert Katzenmeyer (1968–1970)
Cecil Coleman (1971–1972)
Ted Bredehoft (1972–1982)
Lew Perkins (1983–1987)
Tom Shupe (1987–1992)
Gary Hunter (1992–1993)
Darlene Bailey # (1993)
Bill Belknap (1993–1999)
Jim Schaus (1999–2008)
Eric Sexton (2008–2015)
Darron Boatright (2015–2022)
Sarah Adams # (2022)
Kevin Saal (2022– )

# denotes interim athletic director

v t e Wichita State Shockers head football coaches
T. H. Morrison (1897) No coach (1898) Harry Hess (1899–1901) Guy Peverly (1902) No coach (1903) A. F. Holste (1904) Willis Bates (1905–1908) Roy K. Thomas (1909–1911) E. V. Long (1912–1913) Harry Buck (1914–1915) Lamar Hoover (1916–1917) Quince Banbury (1918) Kenneth Cassidy (1919) Wilmer D. Elfrink (1920) Lamar Hoover (1921–1922) Sam H. Hill (1923–1924) Leonard J. Umnus (1925–1927) Sam H. Hill (1928–1929) Al Gebert (1930–1941) Ralph Graham (1942) No team (1943) Melvin J. Binford (1944–1945) Ralph Graham (1946–1947) Jim Trimble (1948–1950) Bob Carlson (1951–1952) Jack Mitchell (1953–1954) Pete Tillman (1955–1956) Woody Woodard (1957–1959) Hank Foldberg (1960–1961) Marcelino Huerta (1962–1964) George Karras (1965–1966) Boyd Converse (1967) Eddie Kriwiel (1968) Ben Wilson (1969–1970) Bob Seaman (1970–1973) Jim Wright (1974–1978) Willie Jeffries (1979–1983) Ron Chismar (1984–1986)

Wichita State Shockers head football coaches

T. H. Morrison (1897)
No coach (1898)
Harry Hess (1899–1901)
Guy Peverly (1902)
No coach (1903)
A. F. Holste (1904)
Willis Bates (1905–1908)
Roy K. Thomas (1909–1911)
E. V. Long (1912–1913)
Harry Buck (1914–1915)
Lamar Hoover (1916–1917)
Quince Banbury (1918)
Kenneth Cassidy (1919)
Wilmer D. Elfrink (1920)
Lamar Hoover (1921–1922)
Sam H. Hill (1923–1924)
Leonard J. Umnus (1925–1927)
Sam H. Hill (1928–1929)
Al Gebert (1930–1941)
Ralph Graham (1942)
No team (1943)
Melvin J. Binford (1944–1945)
Ralph Graham (1946–1947)
Jim Trimble (1948–1950)
Bob Carlson (1951–1952)
Jack Mitchell (1953–1954)
Pete Tillman (1955–1956)
Woody Woodard (1957–1959)
Hank Foldberg (1960–1961)
Marcelino Huerta (1962–1964)
George Karras (1965–1966)
Boyd Converse (1967)
Eddie Kriwiel (1968)
Ben Wilson (1969–1970)
Bob Seaman (1970–1973)
Jim Wright (1974–1978)
Willie Jeffries (1979–1983)
Ron Chismar (1984–1986)

v t e Wichita State Shockers men's basketball head coaches
Willis Bates (1905–1908) No coach (1908–1909) Roy K. Thomas (1909–1912) E. V. Long (1912–1913) Willis Bates (1913–1914) Harry Buck (1914–1916) Lamar Hoover (1916–1918) No coach (1918–1919) Kenneth Cassidy (1919–1920) Wilmer D. Elfrink (1920–1921) Lamar Hoover (1921–1923) Sam H. Hill (1923–1925) Leonard J. Umnus (1925–1928) Gene Johnson (1928–1933) Team suspended (1933–1934) Lindsay Austin (1934–1935) Bill Hennigh (1935–1941) Jack Sterrett (1941–1942) Melvin J. Binford (1942–1943) No team (1943–1944) Melvin J. Binford (1944–1948) Ken Gunning (1948–1951) Ralph Miller (1951–1964) Gary Thompson (1964–1971) Harry Miller (1971–1978) Gene Smithson (1978–1986) Eddie Fogler (1986–1989) Mike Cohen (1989–1992) Scott Thompson (1992–1996) Randy Smithson (1996–2000) Mark Turgeon (2000–2007) Gregg Marshall (2007–2020) Isaac Brown (2020–2023) Paul Mills (2023– )

Wichita State Shockers men's basketball head coaches

Willis Bates (1905–1908)
No coach (1908–1909)
Roy K. Thomas (1909–1912)
E. V. Long (1912–1913)
Willis Bates (1913–1914)
Harry Buck (1914–1916)
Lamar Hoover (1916–1918)
No coach (1918–1919)
Kenneth Cassidy (1919–1920)
Wilmer D. Elfrink (1920–1921)
Lamar Hoover (1921–1923)
Sam H. Hill (1923–1925)
Leonard J. Umnus (1925–1928)
Gene Johnson (1928–1933)
Team suspended (1933–1934)
Lindsay Austin (1934–1935)
Bill Hennigh (1935–1941)
Jack Sterrett (1941–1942)
Melvin J. Binford (1942–1943)
No team (1943–1944)
Melvin J. Binford (1944–1948)
Ken Gunning (1948–1951)
Ralph Miller (1951–1964)
Gary Thompson (1964–1971)
Harry Miller (1971–1978)
Gene Smithson (1978–1986)
Eddie Fogler (1986–1989)
Mike Cohen (1989–1992)
Scott Thompson (1992–1996)
Randy Smithson (1996–2000)
Mark Turgeon (2000–2007)
Gregg Marshall (2007–2020)
Isaac Brown (2020–2023)
Paul Mills (2023– )

v t e 1923 Illinois Fighting Illini football—national champions
Earl Britton Steve Coutchie Mush Crawford Red Grange Vee Green John Mauer Wally McIlwain Jim McMillen Bunny Oakes Ted Richards Leonard J. Umnus Head coach Robert Zuppke Assistant coaches: Justa Lindgren Chester Pittser

1923 Illinois Fighting Illini football—national champions

Head coach: Robert Zuppke

Assistant coaches: Justa Lindgren
Chester Pittser

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