Leo Calland

Leo Calland

c. 1925
Sport(s) Football, basketball
Biographical details
Born February 24, 1901
Ohio
Died March 17, 1984 (aged 83)
La Jolla, California
Playing career
Football
1920–1822
USC
Position(s) Guard (football)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1924
1925–1826
1927–1928
1929–1934
1935–1941

Basketball
1927–1929
USC (assistant)
Whittier
USC (assistant)
Idaho
San Diego State


USC
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1929–1934 Idaho
Head coaching record
Overall 62–61–5 (football)
38–10 (basketball)

Statistics

Accomplishments and honors

Championships

Football:     2 SCIAC (1936–1937)
Basketball: 1 PCC (1928)

Leo B. Calland (February 24, 1901 – March 17, 1984) was an American football and basketball player and coach who later became a San Diego city parks administrator. He was the head football coach at Whittier College (1925–1926), the University of Idaho (1929–1934), and San Diego State College (1935–1941), compiling a career college football record of 62–61–5. Calland was also the head basketball coach at the University of Southern California (USC) for two seasons, from 1927 to 1929, tallying a mark of 38–10.

Playing career

Calland was born in Ohio, and moved with his family as a child to western Washington; he attended school in a log cabin on Lopez Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where all of the other students were Native Americans. He attended Broadway High School in Seattle, where he played football under coach Gus Henderson; when Henderson became football coach at USC in 1919, Calland also enrolled. He lettered as a guard on the 1920 through 1922 teams, and in 1922 was named both team captain and most inspirational player on USC's first Rose Bowl team; he was named Player of the Game in the Trojans' 14–3 victory over Penn State. He also played basketball at USC.[1]

Coaching career

After graduating from USC, Calland became an assistant football coach there in 1924 and from 1927 to 1928, and also coached freshman squads in basketball and baseball.[1] Calland became head basketball coach at USC in 1927, posting a 38–10 record over two seasons and winning the Pacific Coast Conference title in his first year with a 22–4 mark. His .792 career winning percentage remains the highest by a USC basketball coach. Calland then became head football coach and athletic director at the University of Idaho (1929–34)[2][3] and San Diego State College (1935–41). He compiled a 21–30 record at Idaho, and a 34–22–4 record at San Diego State. His San Diego State teams won two SCIAC championships, in 1936 and 1937, with players including John D. Butler, who became mayor of San Diego from 1951 to 1955.

Military career and later life

Calland entered the U.S. Navy during World War II, and served as a recreation officer at the 11th Naval District in San Diego. In 1945 he became director of San Diego's Department of Parks and Recreation; during his 15 years in the post, he oversaw the development of Mission Bay Park and the Torrey Pines Golf Course. In 1960 he became managing director of the San Diego Hall of Champions; he remained in that position until retiring in 1977,[4] and was himself inducted into the Hall in 1974.

Calland died at age 83 at the Veterans Administration Hospital in La Jolla. He was survived by his wife Sarah, two daughters and a son, and was buried in Fairhaven Cemetery in Santa Ana.

Head coaching record

Football

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Whittier Poets (SCIAC) (1925–1926)
1925 Whittier 3–5 2–2
1926 Whittier 4–4–1 4–2–1
Whittier: 7–9–1 6–4–1
Idaho Vandals (Pacific Coast Conference) (1929–1934)
1929 Idaho 4–5 1–4 T–7th
1930 Idaho 4–7 0–5 10th
1931 Idaho 3–4 1–4 8th
1932 Idaho 3–5 1–4 T–8th
1933 Idaho 4–4 1–4 9th
1934 Idaho 3–5 1–4 8th
Idaho: 21–30 5–25
San Diego State Aztecs (SCIAC) (1935–1938)
1935 San Diego State 3–4–1 2–2–1 T–3rd
1936 San Diego State 6–1–1 5–0 1st
1937 San Diego State 7–1 4–1 1st
1938 San Diego State 5–2–1 3–2–1 3rd
San Diego State Aztecs (CCAA) (1939–1941)
1939 San Diego State 2–7 0–2 4th
1930 San Diego State 5–3–1 1–1–1 T–2nd
1941 San Diego State 6–4 0–3 4th
San Diego State Aztecs: 34–22–4 15–11–3
Total: 62–61–5
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Calland undecided upon his assistant". Spokane Daily Chronicle. March 2, 1929. p. 1, sec. 2.
  2. ↑ "Coach Leo Calland resigns as director of athletics at University of Idaho". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. December 16, 1934. p. 9.
  3. ↑ "1932 football season". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. 1933. p. 200.
  4. ↑ "Deaths elsewhere: Leo Calland". Toledo Blade. Associated Press. March 21, 1984. p. 16.

Additional sources

External links