Irving Wayne Hardin (March 23, 1926 – April 12, 2017) 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 ...

player and coach. He served as the head football coach 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 1959 to 1964 and 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 ...

from 1970 to 1982, 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 118–74–5. Hardin led

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

to appearances in the

1961 Orange Bowl The 1961 Orange Bowl was the 27th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Monday, January 2. Part of the 1960–61 bowl game season, the fifth-ranked Missouri Tigers of the Big Eight Conf ...

and the 1964 Cotton Bowl Classic, and coached two Midshipmen to the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

Joe Bellino Joseph Michael Bellino (March 13, 1938 – March 27, 2019) was an American football halfback who won the Heisman Trophy in 1960 playing for the United States Naval Academy and played in the American Football League (AFL) for the Boston Patrio ...

in 1960 and

Roger Staubach Roger Thomas Staubach (, -; , -; born February 5, 1942), nicknamed "Roger the Dodger", "Captain America", and "Captain Comeback", is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for ...

in 1963. After leaving Navy, Hardin coached the

Philadelphia Bulldogs ''For the Continental Football League team (1960s) known as the Philadelphia Bulldogs, see here.'' The Philadelphia Bulldogs were an inline hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They were members of the Atlantic Division of the East ...

of the Continental Football League, leading the team to a championship in 1966. Hardin was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2013.

Early life and playing career

Irving Wayne Hardin was born in

Smackover, Arkansas Smackover is a small city in northern Union County, Arkansas, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population was at 1,865. It had a large oil boom in the 1920s, with production continuing for some time. History In 1686, the French ...

and attended high school in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...

. He played college football at the College of the Pacific under

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

coach

Amos Alonzo Stagg Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfie ...

and his successor, Larry Siemering. Hardin won 11 varsity letters at Pacific before he graduated in 1950. He was inducted into the College of the Pacific's Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998. Coach Hardin was also a veteran of WWII. After his freshman year at Pacific he enlisted and served in the U.S. Coast Guard and served on the ship the USS Orlando PF-99.

Coaching career

After serving as a student assistant coach in 1949 at Pacific, Hardin began his professional coaching career in 1950 at Ceres High School in

Ceres, California Ceres is a city in Stanislaus County, California. Its population was 49,302 at the 2020 U.S. Census, up from 45,417 at the 2010 U.S. Census. It is part of the Modesto metropolitan statistical area. Ceres is located in the San Joaquin Valley a ...

. There he coached football 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 ...

. Hardin returned to his alma mater, Pacific, in 1952 as the backfield coach under Ernie Jorge. He then moved on to Porterville College, a community college in

Porterville, California Porterville is a city in the San Joaquin Valley, in Tulare County, California, United States. It is part of the Visalia-Porterville metropolitan statistical area. Since its incorporation in 1902, the city's population has grown as it annexed n ...

, where in two seasons as head football coach, 1952 and 1953, he tallied a mark of 9–8. In 1955, Hardin was hired as an assistant football coach at the

under

Eddie Erdelatz Edward J. Erdelatz (April 21, 1913 – November 10, 1966) was an American collegiate and professional football player and coach who served as head football coach of the U.S. Naval Academy for nine years. Erdelatz was also the first head coach of ...

. From 1959 to 1964, Hardin was the head coach at Navy, where he compiled a 38–22–2 record. His Navy teams posted five consecutive wins against archrival

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, a feat not surpassed until 2007 when Paul Johnson's Navy squad won their sixth consecutive contest in the

Army–Navy Game The Army–Navy Game is an American college football rivalry game between the Army Black Knights of the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York, and the Navy Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy (USNA) at Annapo ...

. Hardin coached Navy's two winners of the

, who received the award in 1960, and

, who did so in 1963. Hardin was the head coach at Temple from 1970 to 1982, where he compiled an 80–50–3 record. His 80 wins are the most in school history. Hardin coached numerous future professional players at Temple including

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

Joe Klecko Joseph Edward Klecko (born October 15, 1953) is an American former football player, of Polish descent, best remembered for his days as a defensive lineman, a member of the New York Jets' famed " New York Sack Exchange." Temple Owls Before goin ...

, Pittsburgh Steelers

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

Randy Grossman,

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

Kevin Ross,

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

Bill Singletary, and New York Jets

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Steve Joachim, who won the

Maxwell Award The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the college football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best all ...

in 1974 playing for the Owls. Under Hardin, Temple's school-record 14-game winning streak over two seasons from 1973 into 1974 was the longest Division I winning streak at the time. Hardin's 1979 squad was the most successful in Temple football's history. The team went 10–2 and finished the season ranked #17 in both major polls, the only Temple team to finish a campaign ranked. The 1979 team concluded their season with a victory in the

1979 Garden State Bowl The 1979 Garden State Bowl, played on December 15, 1979, was the second edition of the Garden State Bowl. The game featured the California Golden Bears, who played in their first bowl since the 1959 Rose Bowl, and the Temple Owls, who made their ...

over heavily favored Cal. Temple did not return to a

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

until the 2009 season. Hardin's career college record was 118–74–5.

After coaching

Hardin also spent time as a color commentator for

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W ...

for the Baltimore Colts. Hardin died at the age of 91 on April 12, 2017 after suffering a massive stroke in

Oreland, Pennsylvania Oreland is a United States census-designated place (CDP) in Springfield and Upper Dublin townships, just outside the Chestnut Hill and Mount Airy areas of Philadelphia. Oreland has a ZIP code of 19075, and the population was 5,678 at the 201 ...

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardin, Wayne 1926 births 2017 deaths American football halfbacks American football quarterbacks American men's basketball players Continental Football League coaches Navy Midshipmen football coaches Pacific Tigers football coaches Pacific Tigers football players Pacific Tigers men's basketball players Temple Owls football coaches High school basketball coaches in California High school football coaches in California Junior college football coaches in the United States College Football Hall of Fame inductees Baltimore Colts announcers National Football League announcers People from Ceres, California People from Porterville, California People from Smackover, Arkansas Coaches of American football from California Players of American football from Stockton, California