William Simmian "Willis" Kienholz (October 10, 1875 – September 20, 1958) 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 one-year stints as the head coach at six different colleges: Lombard College in

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...

(1903), North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts—now

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

(1904), the

University of Colorado at 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 sys ...

(1905),

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

(1906),

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

(1907), and

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

(1909). Kienholz played football at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

in 1898 and 1899.

Coaching career

In 1902, Kienholz was an assistant football coach as his alma mater, Minnesota, working under head coach

Henry L. Williams Henry Lane Williams (July 26, 1869 – June 14, 1931) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the United States Military Academy in 1891 and the University of Minnesota from 1900 to 1921, compiling a care ...

. The next year he was the head football coach at Lombard College in

, leading his team to a championship of Illinois colleges. In 1904, Kienholz coached at North Carolina A&M, and compiled a 3–1–2 record. In 1905, he coached at Colorado, and compiled an 8–1 record. In 1907, he coached at Auburn, and compiled a 6–2–1 record. In 1909, he coached at Washington State, and compiled a 4–1 record.

Later life and death

Kienholz later served as the director of vocational training for the public schools of

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. He died on September 20, 1958, in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

* 1875 births 1958 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football halfbacks American football quarterbacks Auburn Tigers football coaches Colorado Buffaloes football coaches Lombard Olive football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football players NC State Wolfpack football coaches North Carolina Tar Heels football coaches Washington State Cougars football coaches People from Dodge County, Minnesota Coaches of American football from Minnesota {{1900s-collegefootball-coach-stub