Lisle William "Liz" Blackbourn (June 3, 1899 – June 14, 1983) 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 ...

coach in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, most notably as the third head coach of the Green Bay Packers, from 1954 through

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

, and the final head coach at Marquette University in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

in 1960.

Early years

Born in Beetown, Wisconsin, in 1899, Blackbourn attended high school in Lancaster and played college football at

Lawrence College Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin. Founded in 1847, its first classes were held on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second college in the U.S. to be founded as a coeducation ...

in Appleton, under head coach Mark Catlin, Sr. He arrived on campus in 1918, but left after a semester to work on the family farm for several years, then returned to school. He earned "all-state" honors three times for the Vikings and also was a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

on the baseball team. While finishing his degree at Lawrence, he coached the Vikings' freshman football team in the fall of 1924.

Coaching career

High school coach

After earning his degree in 1925, he became head coach at Washington High School in

and continued for 22 seasons, compiling a 141–30–6 record () through 1946. While remaining as athletic director at the school, he was a scout for the

University of Wisconsin–Madison 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 Stat ...

under head coach

Harry Stuhldreher Harry Augustus Stuhldreher (October 14, 1901 – January 26, 1965) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played quarterback at University of Notre Dame from 1922 to 1924, where he was a three-time All-A ...

College coach

In March 1948, Blackbourn resigned from the high school to become the backfield coach at Wisconsin, which was Stuhldreher's last with the Badgers, resigning in December. With a new staff at UW for 1949, Blackbourn moved over to Marquette University in Milwaukee as the line coach under head coach Frank Murray, who stepped down after the season for health reasons and was succeeded by Blackbourne in 1950. Blackbourne's 1953 team was 6–3–1, the best record at Marquette in over a decade.

Green Bay Packers

Succeeding Gene Ronzani as head coach of the Green Bay Packers, Blackbourn was hired in January 1954. He had a 17–31 record () from 1954 through

, with no post-season appearances, as the only playoff then was the NFL title game. He was asked to resign at the end of the 1957 season after a disappointing 3–9 campaign, but refused and was fired in January 1958. While head coach, he drafted many future hall of famers, including

Forrest Gregg Alvis Forrest Gregg (October 18, 1933 – April 12, 2019) was an American professional football player and coach. A Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), he was a part of six NFL champ ...

Bart Starr Bryan Bartlett Starr (January 9, 1934 – May 26, 2019) was an American professional football quarterback and head coach for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of ...

Paul Hornung Paul Vernon Hornung (December 23, 1935 – November 13, 2020), nicknamed "the Golden Boy", was an American professional football player who was a Hall of Fame running back for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) from 195 ...

, Jim Taylor, Jerry Kramer and Ray Nitschke. He was still the Packers head coach during the first part of

1958 NFL Draft The 1958 National Football League draft had its first four rounds held on December 2, 1957, and its final twenty-six rounds on January 28, 1958. Both sessions were held at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia. This was the 12th and final year in ...

, with the first four rounds conducted in early December 1957. The Packers' first four picks are considered among the best by a team in league history. In addition to Taylor, Nitschke and Kramer, linebacker

Dan Currie Daniel George Currie (June 27, 1935 – September 11, 2017) was an American football player in the National Football League (NFL). He played linebacker for nine seasons with the Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams. Early years Born and raise ...

was selected.

Carroll College

After the dismissal by the Packers, Blackbourn became the head coach at Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin for a single season in 1958, with a record of 6–2.

Return to Marquette

Blackbourn was the 16th head coach at Marquette and held that position twice for a total of six seasons, four from 1950 through 1953 and two from 1959 through 1960.College Football Reference
Marquette University Football Records His coaching record at Marquette was 24–30–4 (). He ranks third in total wins at Marquette and twelfth in winning percentage.

Later life and death

After its football program was discontinued in December 1960, he was a scout in professional football for the Packers and others until he retired in 1972. Blackbourn was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978, and died in 1983 in his hometown of Lancaster.

Head coaching record

College

NFL

References

External links

Wisconsin Football Coaches Association profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackbourn, Lisle 1899 births 1983 deaths Carroll Pioneers football coaches Green Bay Packers head coaches Lawrence Vikings football coaches Lawrence Vikings football players Marquette Golden Avalanche football coaches Wisconsin Badgers football coaches High school football coaches in Wisconsin People from Lancaster, Wisconsin Coaches of American football from Wisconsin Players of American football from Wisconsin