Ray Dreyer Hahn (November 19, 1897 – November 8, 1989) was an

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 ...

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 ...

player and coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the South Dakota School of Mines—now known as

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (South Dakota Mines, SD Mines, or SDSM&T) is a public university in Rapid City, South Dakota. It is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents and was founded in 1885. South Dakota Mines offers ba ...

—from 1929 to 1934 and Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas from 1938 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1956, 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 ...

coaching record of 70–104–4.

Early life and playing career

Hahn was born on, November 19, 1897 in

Clay Center, Kansas Clay Center is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,199. History Clay Center was first settled in 1862. It was named from its position near the geographica ...

. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Hahn attended Kansas State Agricultural College—now known as

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

— in Manhattan, Kansas. There he participated in football, basketball, and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

. He was the captain of the 1922 Kansas State Wildcats football team and was named to the Grantland Rice All-American team as a lineman.

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Hahn began his coaching career at Norton High School in

Norton County, Kansas Norton County (standard abbreviation: NT) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 5,459. The largest city and county seat is Norton. The county was established in 1867 and named for Orl ...

in 1923. The next year he moved on to Downers Grove High School in Downers Grove, Illinois. In 1928, he was appointed head basketball coach at Chadron Normal College—now known as

Chadron State College Chadron State College is a public college in Chadron, Nebraska, US. It is one of three public colleges in the Nebraska State College System. It has open admission and an acceptance rate of 100%. According to College Factual, it has a six-year g ...

—in

Chadron, Nebraska Chadron ( ) is a city and the county seat of Dawes County, in the state of Nebraska in the Great Plains region of the United States. The population was 5,851 at the 2010 census. This city is the location of Chadron State College. Chadron also is ...

and assistant coach in football and track under Arthur R. Stark.

South Dakota Mines

Hahn was the head football coach at the South Dakota School of Mines—now known as

—from 1929 to 1934, compiling a record of 15–27.

Bethany

Hahn returned to coaching after a two-year absence when he was hired in 1938 as 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 ...

and coach of all sports at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. He served as the head football coach at Bethany for 19 seasons between 1938 and 1956, compiling a record of 55–77–4. He took a leave of absence from 1943 to 1946 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

to coach and teach at Leavenworth High School in

Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth () is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 37,351. It is located on the west bank of t ...

. Hahn stepped down as Bethany's head football coach in 1957 and was replaced by

Hal Collins Harold L. Collins (September 26, 1926 – May 27, 2016) was an American football coach. He was the head football coach at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas Lindsborg is a city in McPherson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 c ...

. He remained Bethany's athletics director until 1966, when he was succeeded by

Keith Rasmussen E. Keith Rasmussen is a former American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas from 1965 to 1973, compiling a record of 42–39–3. Rasmussen was also the ...

, the school's head football and track coach. Hahn continued as Bethany's head

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

coach and as a professor of physical education.

Legacy

The Bethany College gymnasium was named the Hahn Physical Education Building in his honor. Hahn was inducted into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics of Fame in 1966, an organization he helped to start as the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball, the predecessor to the NAIA.

Family and death

Hahn was married to Mildred M. Drebing on December 23, 1924, in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the ...

. He died on November 8, 1989, at Lindsborg Community Hospital.

Head coaching record

College football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hahn, Ray D. 1897 births 1989 deaths American football guards American men's basketball players Bethany Swedes athletic directors Bethany Swedes football coaches Bethany Swedes men's basketball coaches Chadron State Eagles football coaches Chadron State Eagles men's basketball coaches Kansas State Wildcats football players Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball players Kansas State Wildcats men's track and field athletes South Dakota Mines Hardrockers football coaches South Dakota Mines Hardrockers men's basketball coaches College golf coaches in the United States College tennis coaches in the United States College track and field coaches in the United States High school football coaches in Illinois High school football coaches in Kansas Bethany College (Kansas) faculty United States Army personnel of World War I People from Clay Center, Kansas Coaches of American football from Kansas Players of American football from Kansas Basketball coaches from Kansas Basketball players from Kansas Track and field athletes from Kansas