William Arlen Jennings (March 13, 1918 – June 8, 2002) was an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

player and coach and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach of the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Universit ...

from 1957 to 1961. He coached the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

for five losing seasons, compiling a 15–34–1 record (.310). His best seasons were 1959 and 1960, when the Huskers were 4–6 in each year. His conference record was 8–24 (.250) and his Husker teams never won more than two conference games in a season. Among Jennings's most notable upsets was the ending of

Bud Wilkinson Charles Burnham "Bud" Wilkinson (April 23, 1916 – February 9, 1994) was an American football player, coach, broadcaster, and politician. He served as the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1947 to 1963, compiling a record of ...

's 74-straight conference victories. The Cornhuskers beat the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Run ...

, 25–21, at Nebraska's 1959 homecoming game on

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

. Jennings followed up a second consecutive win the following year with a 17–14 victory in

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

. The 1959 win was the first for Nebraska since 1942, and the 1959 and 1960 wins were the first consecutive victories over the Sooners since 1939 through 1942. After a 3–6–1 season in 1961, Jennings was succeeded by

Bob Devaney Robert Simon Devaney (April 13, 1915 – May 9, 1997) was a college football coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Wyoming from 1957 to 1961 and at the University of Nebraska from 1962 to 1972, compiling a career record of . ...

, who had been successful with

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

. Devaney immediately turned the Nebraska program around, winning with numerous players recruited by Jennings. The 1962 Huskers went 8–2 in the regular season and won the

Gotham Bowl The Gotham Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game that was played in New York City, United States, in 1961 and 1962. The game was initially created as a fund-raising attempt for the March of Dimes. The game was not a success financially: ...

, Nebraska's first

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

appearance in eight years and the first of 41 consecutive winning seasons. Jennings died on June 8, 2002, at the age of 84 at his home in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

after suffering from prostate cancer.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

Nebraska profile
1918 births 2002 deaths American football ends Nebraska Cornhuskers football coaches Oklahoma Sooners football coaches Oklahoma Sooners football players Washburn Ichabods athletic directors High school football coaches in Oklahoma Sportspeople from Norman, Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma {{1950s-collegefootball-coach-stub