Jerry Hilgenberg was a football player and coach for the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

. He was a first team All-American in 1953 and served as an assistant coach to the Iowa football team for eight seasons.

Background

Jerry Hilgenberg attended Wilton Junction High School in

Wilton, Iowa Wilton (formerly Wilton Junction) is a city in Cedar and Muscatine counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 2,924 at the time of the 2020 census. The Muscatine County portion of Wilton is part of the Muscatine Micropolitan Statist ...

. Wilton Junction did not even have a football program until his senior year, so Hilgenberg played just one season as a high school running back. Despite that, he was inducted into the Iowa High School Football Players Hall of Fame. He walked on to

Leonard Raffensperger Leonard Raffensperger (November 6, 1903 – September 19, 1974) was an American football and basketball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Iowa for two seasons in 1950 and 1951, compiling a record of 5–10 ...

’s Iowa football team in 1950 as a quarterback but was quickly converted to the center and linebacker positions.

Iowa career

Hilgenberg started at Iowa for three seasons from 1951-1953. In his senior season in 1953, Iowa finished the year ranked in the top ten in the nation for the first time since the Ironmen in 1939. Jerry Hilgenberg played a large role in that, being named a first team All-American after the season. He was Coach

Forest Evashevski Forest "Evy" Evashevski (February 19, 1918 – October 30, 2009) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played college football at the University of Michigan from 1938 to 1940 and with the Iowa Pre-Flight ...

’s first All-American at Iowa. He was also the captain of the baseball team as a senior. Hilgenberg was drafted by the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

’s

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

, but he was also drafted by the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

, halting his pro career. When he returned from service, he was hired as an Iowa assistant football coach from 1956-1963. During that time, the Hawkeyes won three

Big Ten conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

titles and two

Rose Bowls The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2. The Rose ...

. Jerry Hilgenberg was also able to coach his younger brother,

Wally Hilgenberg Walter William "Wally" Hilgenberg (September 19, 1942 – September 23, 2008) was a professional American football player. A linebacker, he played 16 seasons in the National Football League, four with the Detroit Lions and 12 with the Minnesota V ...

. Wally became a star both for the Hawkeyes and the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

Honors

Two of Jerry Hilgenberg’s sons,

Joel Hilgenberg Joel Hilgenberg (born July 10, 1962 in Iowa City, Iowa) was an American football center in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints. Hilgenberg played college football at the University of Iowa and he is the brother of former cent ...

and

Jay Hilgenberg Jay Walter Hilgenberg (born March 21, 1959) is an American former professional football player who was a center in the NFL. He played for the Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns and the New Orleans Saints from 1981 to 1993. He is the son of All ...

, became very successful players at the

and in the NFL. In 1989, Iowa fans selected an all-time University of Iowa football team during the 100th anniversary celebration of Iowa football, and Jerry Hilgenberg was selected as an offensive lineman.Iowa All-Time team
He was inducted into the

University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame The University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame is a sports history museum located in the Roy G. Karro Building in Iowa City, Iowa, U.S. The museum pays tribute to the most legendary and influential Iowa Hawkeye sports heroes. Opened in October 200 ...

in 1995, and his brother and two sons were inducted eight years later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilgenberg, Jerry Iowa Hawkeyes football players Living people People from Wilton, Iowa Year of birth missing (living people)