Ernest Claude Wills (March 28, 1892 – December 24, 1976) 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 wi ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at Tempe Normal School, now Arizona State University, in 1922 and at

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 1924, compiling a career college football record of 8–4–1. Wills was also the head basketball coach at Tempe Normal in 1922–23, tallying a mark of 8–4, and the head baseball coach at the school in 1923, guiding his baseball squad to a 5–5 record. Wills graduated 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 ...

in 1916 with a degree in

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

. He played on the Iowa Hawkeyes football team from 1913 through 1915. Wills graduated from Clinton High School in

Clinton, Iowa Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 24,469 as of 2020. Clinton, along with DeWitt (also located in Clinton County), was named in honor of the sixth governor of New York, DeWitt C ...

. In 1923, he was hired physical director and coach at Fremont High School in

Fremont, Nebraska Fremont is a city and county seat of Dodge County in the eastern portion of the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. The population was 27,141 at the 2020 census. Fremont is the home of Midland University. History From the 1830 ...

. Wills died on December 24, 1976, at St. Joseph Hospital in

Bryan, Texas Bryan is a city and the county seat of Brazos County, Texas, United States. It is located in the heart of the Brazos Valley ( East and Central Texas). As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 83,980. Bryan borders the city of Colleg ...

Head coaching record

College football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wills, Ernest C. 1892 births 1976 deaths Arizona State Sun Devils athletic directors Arizona State Sun Devils baseball coaches Arizona State Sun Devils football coaches Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Iowa Chadron State Eagles football coaches Chadron State Eagles men's basketball coaches Iowa Hawkeyes football players High school football coaches in Nebraska People from Clinton, Iowa Players of American football from Iowa