Burt Ingwersen
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Burton A. Ingwersen (born 1898 in Bryant, Iowa; died 1969) was an American college football coach. He was the 12th head football coach at the University of Iowa, and he served for 25 years as an assistant coach at the University of Illinois.
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[edit] Background
Burt Ingwersen was born in a suburb of Clinton, Iowa, but his parents moved him across the river into Illinois when Ingwersen was in grade school. Since his high school did not compete in football, Ingwersen played across the river at Clinton High School. One of his teammates on the high school football team was Duke Slater, the Hall of Fame lineman for the University of Iowa. But Ingwersen did not go to Iowa. Instead, he accepted a scholarship offer from the University of Illinois.
Ingwersen played for Coach Robert Zuppke at Illinois from 1917 to 1919. During that time, the Illini won two Western Conference titles. The Illini also went 2-0 against Iowa during Ingwersen's playing career at Illinois. After playing one year of professional football for the Decatur Staleys, he became an assistant coach under Zuppke from 1921-1923.
[edit] Iowa Coaching Career
Hall of Fame coach Howard Jones left Iowa in 1923 after eight years of considerable success. Paul Belting was hired to succeed Jones as athletic director, but now Belting needed a coach. He needed to replace a legend, and he nearly lured Knute Rockne from Notre Dame. Belting and Rockne had a deal in principle for Rockne to come to Iowa, but Rockne insisted that the media not be informed. When the Chicago Tribune ran a headline on March 23, 1924, speculating on Rockne's proposed move to Iowa, Rockne was quickly signed to a ten year extension by Notre Dame. [1]
Belting, an Illinois graduate, still needed a coach, so he offered Zuppke's pupil Ingwersen a three year contract to become the 12th coach in Iowa football history. The selection was immediately and strongly opposed by many Iowa fans at the time. Critics had two complaints. The first was that Ingwersen was not a "name" coach. He had only been out of college for three years, and he certainly did not have near the credentials of Rockne. Secondly, Ingwersen was branded a "traitor" by some who felt that he was a native Iowan who turned his back on the state to play and coach for the Illini. [2]
Iowa finished with a terrific 6-1-1 record in Burt Ingwersen's first year as a head coach. Unfortunately, the lone loss cost Iowa the Big Ten title. Worse, the loss was to Zuppke and Illinois, Ingwersen's old school.
Iowa won the first five games of the 1925 season before losing their last three. The most significant win came in Iowa's third game against Illinois. Ledrue Galloway, a talented black tackle from the 1924 team, was fighting tuberculosis on his sickbed. Just before the 1925 game with Illinois, the Hawkeye team received a telegram from Galloway, stating, "There will be twelve Iowa men on the field to beat Illinois. I am with you." Things looked bleak at first, however, as Red Grange returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown. But Iowa fought back and delivered a 12-10 victory for their teammate Galloway, who died less than a year later. [3]
Iowa went 7-9 over the next two years, winning just one league game in 1926 and 1927. Fan opposition to Ingwersen grew to a fever pitch, and fans turned on Ingwersen's biggest supporter, Paul Belting, as well.
[edit] Big Ten Suspension
Iowa was suspended from athletic participation in the Big Ten, effective January 1, 1930. The Big Ten commissioner, John L. Griffith, was concerned about widespread illegal recruiting by alumni at Big Ten schools. At Iowa, fans became more vocal than ever before over their opposition to Ingwersen and Belting. Alumni pressure on Belting mounted, and in 1929, Belting abruptly resigned and was succeeded by Edward Lauer.
Griffith took Belting’s resignation as a sign that the alumni were gaining too much influence at Iowa. Iowa was suddenly suspended from the Big Ten for "lack of faculty control" of the athletic department. Griffith later accused Iowa officials of illegal recruiting practices. A university investigation uncovered that a slush fund totaling $4,000 existed through which athletes were given scholarships and illegal bank loans. Interestingly, the fund was created and operated by Belting, the man Griffith was "supporting" in the first place.
Iowa appealed for reinstatement, but the Big Ten demanded that Iowa first declare every athlete who received money from the fund ineligible. Iowa initially refused, stating that the blame for the situation lay with Belting and that the 14 athletes accused did not know their loans and scholarships were illegal. But Iowa eventually relented, and several top athletes were declared ineligible. Iowa’s suspension from athletic participation in the Big Ten lasted just one month, but it made Iowa the conference pariah for years. [4]
The suspension doomed Coach Ingwersen's career at Iowa. He still managed to field successful teams at Iowa in 1928 and 1929. Iowa was in the hunt for the conference title in the last month of both seasons but came up short both times. Ingwersen's Hawkeyes even weathered the suspension with a 4-4 record in 1930. But in 1931, Iowa went 1-6-1, scoring just seven points all year long. Ingwersen knew that it would be a long time before Iowa could again be competitive within the conference. Burt Ingwersen resigned after that season, stating that he "did not care to fight the critics who are now or will be asking for a new coach at Iowa." [5]
Ingwersen had a 33-27-4 record at Iowa, and he only had two losing seasons in the eight years he coached at Iowa.
[edit] Assistant Coaching Career
Burt Ingwersen moved back to Illinois and soon became an assistant football coach at Northwestern. He coached there during the 1930's and served as Northwestern's baseball coach from 1936-1939. Ingwersen later served in World War II.
After returning from the war, Ingwersen again became an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Illinois, this time under "Mr. Illini", Ray Eliot. He also served as an assistant under Peter Elliott at Illinois, serving a total of 22 years in his second stint (1945-1966). He died in 1969.
[edit] References
- ^ 75 Years With The Fighting Hawkeyes, by Bert McCrane & Dick Lamb, Pages 85-88 (ASIN: B0007E01F8)
- ^ University of Iowa Football, by Chuck Bright, Page 112 (ISBN 0-87397-233-3)
- ^ 75 Years With The Fighting Hawkeyes, by Bert McCrane & Dick Lamb, Page 93 (ASIN: B0007E01F8)
- ^ 75 Years With The Fighting Hawkeyes, by Bert McCrane & Dick Lamb, Pages 97-134 (ASIN: B0007E01F8)
- ^ 75 Years With The Fighting Hawkeyes, by Bert McCrane & Dick Lamb, Page 144 (ASIN: B0007E01F8)
| Preceded by: Howard Jones |
University of Iowa Head Football Coaches 1924–1931 |
Succeeded by: Ossie Solem |
| Iowa Hawkeyes Head Football Coaches |
|---|
| Knipe • Chalmers • Catlin • Griffith • Hawley • Jones • Ingwersen • Solem • Tubbs • Anderson • Madigan • Crowe • Raffensperger • Evashevski • Burns • Nagel • Lauterbur • Commings • Fry • Ferentz |
