Larry Kehres (born September 7, 1949) is a 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 and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the

University of Mount Union The University of Mount Union is a private university in Alliance, Ohio. Founded in 1846, the university was affiliated with the Methodist Church until the spring of 2019. In the fall of 2020, Mount Union had an enrollment of 1,958 undergraduat ...

—formerly known as Mount Union College—in

Alliance, Ohio Alliance is a city in eastern Stark County, Ohio, United States. With a small district lying in adjacent Mahoning County, the city is approximately northeast of Canton, southwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 21 ...

for 27 seasons, from 1986 to 2012. Kehres retired from coaching in May 2013 with a record of 332–24–3 as head coach of the Mount Union Purple Raiders football team, and a winning percentage of , the highest in

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 ...

history. Kehres also has the most national titles (11: 1993, 1996–1998, 2000–2002, 2005–2006, 2008, 2012), conference titles (23), and unbeaten regular seasons (21) of any coach in college football history. His Purple Raiders set the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) football record for most consecutive victories with 55, running from 2000 to 2003. He was succeeded as head football coach by his son,

Vince Vince is a given name, it is the anglicisation and shortened form of the name Vincent, as well as a surname. It may refer to: Given name People * Vince Agnew (born 1987), American football player * Vince Cable (born 1943), British politician ...

. The elder Kehres was also 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 ...

at Mount Union from 1985 to 2020. He was inducted into the

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 ...

in 2017.

Early years

Kehres is a native of

Diamond, Ohio Diamond is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in eastern Palmyra Township, Portage County, Ohio, Palmyra Township, Portage County, Ohio, Portage County, Ohio, United States. It has a post office with the ZIP code 44412. The community ...

. He attended and played quarterback for Portage County's Southeast High School, which shared the 1966 Portage County League championship with Windham High School, before attending Mount Union College from 1967 to 1970. At Mount Union, he played quarterback for the football team. In 1970, he set the school record with a 95-yard touchdown pass against Ohio Northern.

Coaching career

Bowling Green and Johnstown-Monroe

From 1971 to 1972, Kehres was a graduate assistant at

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

, while studying for a master's degree in health and physical education. In 1973, he was the head football coach at

Johnstown-Monroe High School Johnstown-Monroe High School is a public high school in Johnstown, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Johnstown-Monroe Local School District. It was erected in 2018 and currently houses grades 9-12. The current principal is Mr. Derick Busenb ...

Assistant coach at Mount Union

In 1974, Kehres returned to Mount Union College as an assistant football coach under head coach Ken Wable. Kehres was an assistant coach and offensive coordinator for 11 years under Wable. Wable had a .564 winning percentage in 24 years as the head coach at Mount Union. Kehres also started and served as the coach of Mount Union's swim program from 1974 to 1986.

Head coach at Mount Union

In 1985, Kehres became the athletic director at Mount Union. In 1986, he took over as head football coach. His teams have won 11

NCAA Division III Football Championship The NCAA Division III Football Championship began in 1973. The Division III playoffs begin with 32 teams selected to participate in the Division III playoffs. The Division III championship game, known as the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl or Stagg Bowl ...

s (1993, 1996–1998, 2000–2002, 2005–2006, 2008, 2012). Kehres' teams hold several

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

records. In addition to owning the two longest winning streaks in NCAA history, 54 wins in 1996–1999 and 55 wins in 2000–2003, the Mount Union Purple Raiders won a conference title in 23 of his 27 seasons; at Kehres' retirement, Mount Union had an ongoing streak of 21 conference titles. During his tenure, Kehres only lost eight games and tied three times in conference play. From 1994 to 2005, his squads won 100 consecutive games against

Ohio Athletic Conference The Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) was formed in 1902 and is the third oldest athletic conference in the United States. Its current commissioner is Sarah Otey. Former commissioners include Mike Cleary, who was the first General Manager of a profe ...

opponents. The 1994 season was the last under his tenure in which the Purple Raiders lost more than one game. Finally, his record of 72–3 () in his final five seasons is the best in college football history, surpassing

Tom Osborne Thomas William Osborne (born February 23, 1937) is a former American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and politician from Nebraska. He served as head football coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 1973 to 1997 (25 season ...

's 60–3 () in his final five seasons at

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

. Kehres is 3–1 against college football's all-time winningest coach,

John Gagliardi John Gagliardi ( ; November 1, 1926 – October 7, 2018) was an American football coach. He was the head football coach at Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, from 1953 until 2012. From 1949 to 1952, he was the head footba ...

, having beaten Gagliardi's St. John's squads twice in playoff match-ups and traded wins in the national title game in 2000 and 2003. In 2009, Kehres was named first vice president of the

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

(AFCA). He was elected

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the AFCA in January 2010. In 2013, Kehres retired after 27 years as head coach to become the Athletic Director of Mount Union. His son, defensive coordinator Vince Kehres, succeeded him as head coach.

Family

Kehres and his wife, Linda, have three children, Vince, Faith, and Jan. He is also the uncle of current Gannon football head coach

Erik Raeburn Erik Raeburn (born June 19, 1971) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, a position he has held since November 2019. Raeburn served as head football coach Coe College in Cedar Rap ...

, who played for him from 1987 to 1990 and then served as his assistant coach for a number of years.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kehres, Larry 1949 births Living people American football quarterbacks Bowling Green Falcons football coaches Mount Union Purple Raiders athletic directors Mount Union Purple Raiders football coaches Mount Union Purple Raiders football players College swimming coaches in the United States High school football coaches in Ohio College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Portage County, Ohio Coaches of American football from Ohio Players of American football from Ohio