Eugene Kenney (May 15, 1928 – June 14, 2022) was an American wrestler, football player and soccer coach, who is best known as being the first head coach of the

Michigan State Spartans men's soccer The Michigan State Spartans men's soccer team represents Michigan State University in all men's Division I NCAA soccer competitions. They compete in the Big Ten Conference. The team has made nineteen appearances in the NCAA Men's Division I Socce ...

team. Kenney coached the Spartans from 1956 until 1969, where he led the Spartans to two NCAA co-championships in 1967 and 1968. Following his retirement from coaching, Kenney worked as an athletic administrator for the Michigan State athletics program from 1970 until his retirement in 1994. During his tenure in the school's athletics department, he published ''Soccer: Sports Techniques'' a book about philosophies and team strategies to approach the sport.

Football and wrestling career

Kenney's collegiate sports career began in 1946 when he was a four-year member of the Illinois Fighting Illini football team. Kenney never played a competitive game while part of the football team. Kenney was a four-year player in high school football for the Urbana Tigers varsity football team. Outside of football, Kenney was also an

amateur wrestler Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced in collegiate, school, or other amateur level competitions. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games: freestyle and Greco-Roman. Both styles are under the ...

, as he was a member of the Illinois Fighting Illini wrestling team. Kenney was a one-year letterwinner, being a member of the 1950 wrestling team. Upon graduation in 1950, Kenney became an assistant coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels wrestling program.

Soccer career

Following an illness to then-head coach Marvin Allen, Kenney took control of the Tar Heels soccer team to close out the 1950 season. Following the season, Kenney was deployed to fight in the Korean War. While in Korea, Kenney served as a head coach for several service soccer teams in addition to being an Army officer. Upon return from Korea, Kenney was hired by

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

to initially coach the wrestling team and serve as a physical education teacher in the region. In his spare time, Kenney also coached the club soccer team at Michigan State until it was upgraded to varsity status in 1956. When the program became a varsity program, MSU athletic director, Biggie Munn, named Kenney as the program's head coach. During Kenney's time coaching the Spartans, the program experienced the most success in their history. Kenney led the Spartans to 120-13-13 record and helped them claim two NCAA titles.

Head coaching record

Administrative career

In 1970, Kenney became an athletic fellow for the school's athletic department until his retirement in 1994.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenney, Gene 1928 births 2022 deaths Illinois Fighting Illini football players Illinois Fighting Illini wrestlers Michigan State Spartans men's soccer coaches United States Army officers United States Army personnel of the Korean War People from Urbana, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois American soccer coaches Military personnel from Illinois