Jack Robert Lengyel (born March 4, 1935) is a software executive and former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach,

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the

College of Wooster The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio. Founded in 1866 by the Presbyterian Church as the University of Wooster, it has been officially non-sectarian since 1969 when ownership ties with the Presbyterian Church ...

from 1966 to 1970 and at

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: L ...

from 1971 until 1974, compiling a career

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 ...

record of 33–54. At Marshall, he took over the Thundering Herd football program after the

Southern Airways Flight 932 Southern Airways Flight 932 was a chartered Southern Airways Douglas DC-9 domestic United States commercial jet flight from Stallings Field (ISO) in Kinston, North Carolina, to Huntington Tri-State Airport/Milton J. Ferguson Field (HTS) near ...

plane crash that killed nearly the entire team in 1970. Lengyel was the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

California State University, Fresno California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

from 1983 to 1986, at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

from 1986 to 1988, and at the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

from 1988 to 2001. He served as the interim athletic director at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

in 2002, at

Eastern Kentucky University Eastern Kentucky University (Eastern or EKU) is a public university in Richmond, Kentucky. As a regional comprehensive institution, EKU also maintains branch campuses in Corbin, Hazard, Lancaster, and Manchester and offers over 40 online un ...

from 2002 to 2003, and at the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado syst ...

from 2004 to 2005.

Early life and coaching career

Lengyel's family name means "Polish" in Hungarian. He graduated from The

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classified ...

where he was an assistant coach in 1959, and was a member of the Lone Star Fraternity (Pi Kappa Epsilon). In 1962, he earned a Master of Education degree from

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...

. He was an assistant coach at

Heidelberg College Heidelberg University is a private university in Tiffin, Ohio. Founded in 1850, it was known as Heidelberg College until 1889 and from 1926 to 2009. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ. History Heidelberg University was founded b ...

(1961–1962) and

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

(1963–1965) before becoming head football coach at the

in 1966. At Wooster, Lengyel transformed a team that was 0-9 to winning consecutive games. He also coached

at Wooster for three seasons, from 1968 to 1970.

Marshall

Lengyel was hired by athletic director

Joe McMullen Joe H. McMullen (May 9, 1924 – September 9, 1983) was an American college football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He serve as the head football coach at Stetson University from 1950 to 1951, Washington & Jefferson College from 1952 ...

after head coach

Rick Tolley Rickey Dale Tolley (January 6, 1940 – November 14, 1970) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Marshall University during the 1969 and 1970 seasons. He died in the Southern Airways Flight 932, 1970 plane crash t ...

was killed along with 37 players and 37 coaches and administrators of Marshall in a plane crash on November 14, 1970. He was selected for the job after it was rejected by a Penn State assistant and an assistant from Georgia Tech turned it down. When Lengyel arrived at Marshall he was forced to recruit athletes from other sports (

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

) as well as allow a large number of walk-ons in order to rebuild the devastated football program. Although the team struggled in Lengyel's first season at the helm, it managed to win a stunning 15–13 victory over Xavier, scoring a touchdown on the final play of the game. His overall record at Marshall as the head coach was 9–33.

Administrative career

After leaving Marshall, Lengyel went into the private sector before returning to sports as associate director of athletics at

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

(1978–1980) and

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

(1980–1983). He then went to

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

as director of athletics from 1983 to 1986. He returned to University of Missouri to become their athletic director from 1986 to 1988. In 1988, he became the athletic director at the

, where he served for 14 years before retiring in 2001. He received the 2005 John L. Toner Award from the

National Football Foundation The National Football Foundation (NFF) is a non-profit organization to promote and develop amateur American football on all levels throughout the United States and "developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the dr ...

and

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

for his service at Navy. Since retiring from Navy in 2001, he has also been the interim director of athletics at

, and most recently

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

. Lengyel also served many years on the board of trustees for the Foundation of the United States Naval Academy. He is currently the vice president of business development for XOS Digital, a sports media and technology company. On January 12, 2008, seven members of a high school basketball team from

Bathurst, New Brunswick Bathurst ( 2021 population; UA 12,157 ) is the largest City in Northern New Brunswick, it overlooks the Nepisiguit Bay, part of Chaleur Bay and is at the estuary of the Nepisiguit River. As part of the New Brunswick local governance reform , e ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and their coach's wife were killed in a highway crash when the 15-seat van they were traveling in collided with a tractor-trailer while returning from a game in Moncton in snowy conditions. Drawing similarities between the two tragedies, on March 13, 2008, Jack Lengyel funded his own traveling expenses to New Brunswick, Canada to assist in counseling the grieving community. Lengyel went on record with the Canadian Press stating that schools should not be transporting students in small, multi-passenger vans. The New Brunswick government announced soon after the crash that it was suspending the use of the vans. In 2019, Lengyel was named to the National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame's 150th Anniversary Team of Excellence.

In media

In the 2006 film '' We Are Marshall'', based on the Marshall plane crash and Marshall's 1971 team, Lengyel was portrayed by

Matthew McConaughey Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He had his breakout role with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first succes ...

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lengyel, Jack 1935 births Living people Akron Zips football coaches Akron Zips football players Colorado Buffaloes athletic directors Cornell Big Red football coaches Eastern Kentucky Colonels athletic directors Fresno State Bulldogs athletic directors Heidelberg Student Princes baseball coaches Heidelberg Student Princes football coaches Louisville Cardinals athletic directors Marshall Thundering Herd football coaches Missouri Tigers athletic directors Navy Midshipmen athletic directors Temple Owls athletic directors Wooster Fighting Scots football coaches College men's lacrosse coaches in the United States Kent State University alumni Sportspeople from Akron, Ohio American people of Hungarian descent