Don Nehlen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Don "Dandy Don" Nehlen | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Sport | Football | |
| Born | January 1, 1936 | |
| Place of birth |  Mansfield, Ohio |
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| Career highlights | ||
| Overall | 202-128-8 | |
| Bowls | 4-9-0 | |
| Coaching stats | ||
| College Football DataWarehouse | ||
| Championships | ||
| Big East Conference (1993) | ||
| Awards | ||
| Walter Camp Coach of the Year (1988) Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year (1988) AFCA Coach of the Year (1988) Big East Coach of Year (1993) Kodak Coach of the Year (1993) |
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| Playing career | ||
| Position | Quarterback (BGSU) | |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | ||
| 1968-1976
1980-2000 |
Bowling Green | |
| College Football Hall of Fame, 2005 (Bio) | ||
Don Nehlen (born 1936 in Mansfield, Ohio) is the former head football coach at Bowling Green State University and later at West Virginia University. His lifetime record was 202-128-8. Nehlen retired in 2001 as the 17th winningest coach in college football history, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005. He is a past president of the American Football Coaches Association.
Nehlen was a quarterback at Bowling Green and led the team to a Mid-American Conference championship. He then began his coaching career in 1958 at Mansfield High School. Nehlen served as head coach at Canton South and Canton McKinley high schools and then was an assistant coach at University of Cincinnati, Bowling Green, and University of Michigan.
Nehlen received the 2002 Distinguished West Virginian Award from the West Virginia Broadcasters Association.[1]
Since retirement, he has been a spokesman for the coal industry. He has been urged to run as a Republican for several political offices, but as of 2007 he has declined to do so.[citation needed] He is a supporter of the FBI's childhood fingerprint identification campaign.
After being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, Nehlen published a book called "Don Nehlen's Tales from the West Virginia Sideline". The autobiographical book recalled Nehlen's greatest moments, players, and more from his 21-years as the head coach at West Virginia.
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[edit] At West Virginia
Nehlen had been quarterback's coach for Bo Schembechler, University of Michigan's coach, before taking the job at West Virginia. Nehlen became West Virginia's 29th football coach December 7, 1979. Nehlen replaced Frank Cignetti after four losing seasons.
Nehlen assembled what he called a "perfect staff".[citation needed] Nehlen first hired Gary Tranquill as the offensive coach. Trying to resemble the Michigan defense, Nehlen hired Dennis Brown. Nehlen also hired some of the coaches he worked with at Bowling Green. Also, Nehlen hired Donnie Young, Cignetti's former assistant head coach, as the recruiting coach for the last three months of recruiting. During Nehlen's tenure at West Virginia, he only had to let two coaches go that he had hired. Gary Tranquill left after three years to take the head coaching position at the United States Naval Academy, taking a grad assistant Steve Dunlap with him. Dunlap would return and became West Virginia's defensive coach. One of Nehlen's most famed coaches was Doc Holliday, who was the assistant head coach and recruiting coach for almost 20 years before leaving to be assistant coach at North Carolina State. Holliday was sent to Florida every year to find recruits. Holliday found many talented recruits in the Florida area, including linebacker Steve Grant.
When Nehlen arrived at West Virginia University, he introduced their first "home and away uniforms" and WVU's helmet logo, which turned out to be West Virginia athletics new official logo, "The Flying WV.". Nehlen's first season, 1980, went 6-6. In 1981, led by quarterback Oliver Luck, West Virginia went 8-3 and upset the Florida Gators in the Peach Bowl 26-6. In 1982, led by Jeff Hostetler, West Virginia started the season with an upset over #9 Oklahoma Sooners and a win in 1983 against the University of Pittsburgh. The 1984 season had wins against Doug Flutie's Boston College and Penn State. The Penn State win marked West Virginia's first win against them since [1955].
The 1987 season marked the beginning of the Major Harris era in West Virginia. In Harris' sophomore season, 1988, West Virginia went undefeated and played Notre Dame in The National Championship Fiesta Bowl. West Virginia lost the game 34-21, after Major Harris' injury on the third play of the game.
In 1993, Nehlen led West Virginia to another undefeated regular season, but Florida exacted revenge in the Sugar Bowl, winning 41-7. The 1994 team started with a 1-4 record, but Nehlen managed to take West Virginia to the Carquest Bowl, but lost to the University of South Carolina 24-21.
In 1998, Nehlen had future NFL players Marc Bulger, Amos Zereoue, Anthony Becht, Gary Stills, Barrett Green, Solomon Page and John Thornton to make up what he called "his best West Virginia...squad".[citation needed] West Virginia opened the season with a loss to Ohio State, but finished the season with an 8-4 record, losing in the Insight Bowl to University of Missouri 34-31.
Following a loss to Syracuse University, Nehlen announced that the 2000 season would be his final. Nehlen's final home game was against ECU. Nehlen's final game was against Ole Miss in the Music City Bowl. After winning three of his first four bowls, Nehlen's bowl resume had been below average. But West Virginia handled the Rebels 49-38, let by the offensive attack of quarterback Brad Lewis, tailback Avon Cobourne, wide receiver Antonio Brown, and fullback Wes Ours.
Nehlen is West Virginia's all time leading coach in terms of victories. His career record there is 149-93-4. He coached 15 first team All-Americans, 82 all-conference players, and 80 NFL players. He received Coach of the Year honors from Kodak. In 1993, he won the Big East Coach of the Year award. In 1988, he led earned AFCA Coach of the Year honors. Nehlen was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
[edit] Coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl Game | Bowl Opponent | Outcome | Rank#
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowling Green (MAC) (1968 — 1976) | ||||||||
| 1968 | Bowling Green | 6-3-1 | 3-2-1 | |||||
| 1969 | Bowling Green | 6-4 | 4-1 | |||||
| 1970 | Bowling Green | 2-6-1 | 2-3 | |||||
| 1971 | Bowling Green | 6-4 | 4-1 | |||||
| 1972 | Bowling Green | 6-3-1 | 3-1-1 | |||||
| 1973 | Bowling Green | 7-3 | 4-3 | |||||
| 1974 | Bowling Green | 6-4-1 | 2-3 | |||||
| 1975 | Bowling Green | 8-3 | 4-2 | |||||
| 1976 | Bowling Green | 6-5 | 4-3 | |||||
| At Bowling Green: | 53-35-4 | 30-19-2 | ||||||
| West Virginia (Independent (1980-1990), Big East (1991-present)) (1980 — 2000) | ||||||||
| 1980 | West Virginia | 6-6 | ||||||
| 1981 | West Virginia | 9-3 | Peach Bowl | Florida | W, 26-6 | 17 | ||
| 1982 | West Virginia | 9-3 | Gator Bowl | Florida State | L, 12-31 | 19 | ||
| 1983 | West Virginia | 9-3 | Hall of Fame Classic | Kentucky | W, 20-16 | 16 | ||
| 1984 | West Virginia | 8-4 | Bluebonnet Bowl | Texas Christian | W, 31-14 | |||
| 1985 | West Virginia | 7-3-1 | ||||||
| 1986 | West Virginia | 4-7 | ||||||
| 1987 | West Virginia | 6-6 | Sun Bowl | Oklahoma State | L, 33-35 | |||
| 1988 | West Virginia | 11-1 | Fiesta Bowl (National Championship game) | Notre Dame | L, 21-34 | 5 | ||
| 1989 | West Virginia | 8-3-1 | Gator Bowl | Clemson | L, 7-27 | 21 | ||
| 1990 | West Virginia | 4-7 | ||||||
| 1991 | West Virginia | 6-5 | 3-4 | 4 | ||||
| 1992 | West Virginia | 5-4-2 | 2-3-1 | 5 | ||||
| 1993 | West Virginia | 11-1 | 7-0 | 1 | Sugar Bowl | Florida | L, 7-41 | 7 |
| 1994 | West Virginia | 7-6 | 4-3 | 3-T | Carquest Bowl | South Carolina | L, 21-24 | |
| 1995 | West Virginia | 5-6 | 4-3 | 4-T | ||||
| 1996 | West Virginia | 8-4 | 4-3 | 4 | Gator Bowl | North Carolina | L, 13-20 | |
| 1997 | West Virginia | 7-5 | 4-3 | 3-T | Carquest Bowl | Georgia Tech | L, 30-35 | |
| 1998 | West Virginia | 8-4 | 5-2 | 2-T | Insight.com Bowl | Missouri | L, 31-34 | |
| 1999 | West Virginia | 4-7 | 3-4 | 4-T | ||||
| 2000 | West Virginia | 7-5 | 3-4 | 5-T | Music City Bowl | Mississippi | W, 49-38 | |
| At West Virginia: | 149-93-4 | 39-29-1 | ||||||
| Career: | 202-128-8 | |||||||
| National Championship Conference Title | ||||||||
| #Rankings from final AP Poll of the season. | ||||||||
[edit] See also
[edit] References
http://www.wvu.edu/~sports/hall_fame/don_nehlen.htm
| Preceded by Bob Gibson |
Bowling Green State University Head Football Coach 1968- 1976 |
Succeeded by Denny Stolz |
| Preceded by Frank Cignetti |
West Virginia Head Football Coach 1980- 2000 |
Succeeded by Rich Rodriguez |
| Preceded by Dick MacPherson |
Walter Camp Coach of the Year 1988 |
Succeeded by Bill McCartney |
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