Len Casanova
Casanova from The Owl 1951
|
|
| Sport(s) | Football, basketball, baseball |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
June 12, 1905 Ferndale, California |
| Died | September 30, 2002 (aged 97) Eugene, Oregon |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1923–1926 | Santa Clara |
| Position(s) | Halfback, punter |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1927 | St. Joseph Mil. Acad. (CA) |
| 1928–1935 | Sequoia HS (CA) |
| 1936–1942 | Santa Clara (assistant) |
| 1946–1949 | Santa Clara |
| 1950 | Pittsburgh |
| 1951–1966 | Oregon |
| Baseball | |
| 1940–1942 | Santa Clara |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1967–1970 | Oregon |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 104–94–11 (college football) 39–25 (college baseball) |
| Bowls | 2–2 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Football 1 PCC (1957) |
|
| Awards | |
| Amos Alonzo Stagg Award (1990) | |
|
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1977 (profile) |
|
Leonard Joseph "Len" Casanova (June 12, 1905 – September 30, 2002) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Santa Clara University (1946–1949), the University of Pittsburgh (1950), and the University of Oregon (1951–1966), compiling a career college football record of 104–94–11. Casanova was also the head baseball coach at Santa Clara from 1940 to 1942, tallying a mark of 39–25. After retiring from coaching, he served as the athletic director at Oregon. Casanova was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1977.
Casanova was born to Swiss-American immigrants, John and Marie Ursula Casanov on June 12, 1905 on a ranch in the Grizzly Bluff area near Ferndale, California. He got his start in football in the early 1920s when he played halfback for Ferndale High School, and in 1922 he captained the Ferndale team to a co-championship with Eureka High School. The Ferndale team ended the season with seven wins in eight games. One of Casanova’s early athletic feats came in the first game that year against Arcata High School when, as a left-footed kicker, he drop-kicked a 45-yard field goal as Ferndale defeated the Tigers, 10–0.
Clark Bugbee, a high school teammate, later recalled that "Cas wanted to be a good punter. The coach gave him a football to take home and practice with. He practiced winter and summer and turned out to be quite a punter in college."
While in high school, Casanova delivered newspapers and worked at a meat market in town. In his senior year, he also played basketball and baseball and was president of the student body. In the 1923 Ferndale High School yearbook, under the column "Expected to Be" in the "Senior Horoscope" section, Casanova listed his future career as "football coach."
...
Wikipedia