From college to high school: UW Cowboy lettermen who ended up as high school head football coaches in Wyoming

Last week, I looked at 24 former University of Wyoming basketball players who went on to become high school football coaches in Wyoming.

But the number of former UW football letterwinners to become football coaches around the state is much more impressive.

At least 89 former University of Wyoming Cowboy football letterwinners have gone on to be high school football coaches in the state.

This trend has faded recently, but numerous former Cowboys stood on high school sidelines throughout the 1950s and 1960s. In one year, 1954, a full 16 schools had former UW football letterwinners as their head coaches. At least nine schools had former Cowboys on their sidelines every year from 1949 to 1966.

While this trend peaked in the 1950s and 1960s, by the early 1990s, it had faded out. Throughout the 1980s, no more than two schools had former UW letterwinners, and from 1991 to 2003, only one single UW football letterwinner was a head coach in the state at any time (Evanston’s Doug Rigby from 1998-2001).

That changed in 2004, when Kelly Walsh hired Jim Horne, who lettered at UW in 1979 and 1980. Then, in 2009, Hanna hired UW letterwinner Tom Waring (he later coached Rawlins and now leads Wheatland), and in 2014, Cheyenne Central brought on former Cowboy Drew Severn.

Waring and Severn are the only former UW letterwinners who are current head football coaches in Wyoming.

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With 89 former letterwinners scattered around the state, more schools in the state have had a former Cowboy on the sidelines than those that haven’t.

The former Cowboys tended toward bigger schools — of the 10 4A and 12 3A programs, only the two recently opened 4A schools (Cheyenne South and Thunder Basin) and far-from-Laramie 3A Star Valley haven’t had a former UW letterwinner on the sidelines as head coach. Other schools that have never had former UW letterwinners as their head coach include 2A schools Burns, Lyman, Moorcroft and Mountain View; 1A 11-man schools Big Horn, Rocky Mountain, Southeast, Sundance, Tongue River, Upton, Wright and Wyoming Indian; and 1A six-man schools Burlington, Dubois, Farson, Guernsey-Sunrise, Hulett, Kaycee, NSI, Rock River, Riverside and St. Stephens.

The school that’s had more years than any other with a UW letterwinner as its head coach is Rock Springs, which has been led by a former Cowboy for 43 seasons.

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Below is the full list of 89 former UW football letterwinners to go on to be head coaches in the state. This count does not include players who were squad members but did not letter; however, UW lists all squad members prior to 1930 as letterwinners.

Reverse chronologically, they are:

• Drew Severn: Lettered 2002-03-04-05, coach Cheyenne Central 2014-present
• Tom Waring: Lettered 1999-2000, coach Hanna 2009-12, Rawlins 2013, Wheatland 2016-present
• Jim Horne: Lettered 1979-80, coach Kelly Walsh 2004-10
• Doug Rigby: Lettered 1988-91, coach Evanston 1998-2001
• Keith Mills: Lettered 1977-78, coach Wind River 1979
• Mike Lopiccolo: Lettered 1971-73-74, coach Rock Springs 1981-91
• John Schulein: Lettered 1972-73, coach St. Mary’s 1975
• Jim Keen: Lettered 1967-68-69, coach Kemmerer 1977-79, Powell 1980-81, Cheyenne East 1982-88
• Rich Trautwein: Lettered 1967-69, coach Cheyenne Central 1976-78
• Jim House: Lettered 1966-67-68, coach Douglas 1970-71, Green River 1972-73
• Tim Gottberg: Lettered 1965-66-67, coach Torrington 1970
• Jerrold/Jerry Durling: Lettered 1965-66, coach Wheatland 1975-76
• Charles “Chuck” Shelton: Lettered 1964-65-66, coach Green River 1969-71
• Art Kissack: Lettered 1963-64-65, coach Cheyenne East 1970-77
• John Dowler: Lettered 1963-64, coach Gillette 1972-76
• Harry Reed: Lettered 1962-63-64, coach Newcastle 1965-68
• Tom Delaney: Lettered 1961-62-63, coach Wheatland 1965-66, Lusk 1967-68-69
• Vince Zimmer: Lettered 1961-62, coach Lusk 1964, Powell 1965-66
• Don Heidt: Lettered 1961, coach Rawlins 1970-72
• Stan Popeck: Lettered 1961, coach Worland 1966-69, Lander 1975-78
• Delman “Del” Wight: Lettered 1958-60, coach Worland 1965
• John “Jack” Allen: Lettered 1957-58, coach Pinedale 1964
• Herb Taylor: Lettered 1957-58, coach Kemmerer 1961
• Paul Muratore: Lettered 1956-57-58, coach Sunrise 1959
• Jim Crawford: Lettered 1954-55-56, coach Lovell 1957, Greybull 1965-68
• Vince Guinta: Lettered 1954-55-56, coach Wheatland 1968-69, Kemmerer 1970-76
• John Maffoni: Lettered 1954-55, coach Rawlins 1962-67
• Ray Lutterman: Lettered 1950-51-54-55, coach Greybull 1956
• Claude “Wimp” Hewgley: Lettered 1952-53-54, coach Worland 1959
• Richard Viner: Lettered 1951-52-53, coach Saratoga 1962-64
• Adolph “Ox” Zellner: Lettered 1951-52-53, coach Greybull 1957-58
• Ed Strube: Lettered 1952, coach Kelly Walsh 1968-70
• Bill Hileman: Lettered 1951-52, coach Wheatland 1957-58, Thermopolis 1961-64
• Harry Geldien: Lettered 1950-51-52, coach Natrona 1957-64
• William “Bill” Baker: Lettered 1949-50-51, coach Newcastle 1952-54
• Bob Harp: Lettered 1949-50-51, coach Evanston 1952-55, Riverton 1956
• Jim Godfrey: Lettered 1950, coach Cheyenne East 1960-64
• Ivan Jones: Lettered 1950, coach Baggs 1955-56
• Marion Ladd: Lettered 1950, coach Wheatland 1954
• Marv Strauch: Lettered 1950, coach St. Mary’s 1954-59
• Jerry Parker: Lettered 1949-50, coach Big Piney 1955-57, Evanston 1958-66
• John Melton: Lettered 1948-49-50, coach Thermopolis 1952-56
• Eddie Talboom: Lettered 1948-49-50, coach Evanston 1951, Rock Springs 1957-65
• Carl Rollins: Lettered 1947-48-49, coach Sheridan 1950-58
• John Kosich: Lettered 1946-47-48-49, coach Greybull 1950-55
• Fred Taucher: Lettered 1946-47-48-49, coach Jackson 1950-51
• Fran Connor: Lettered 1947-48, coach Rawlins 1953-61
• George Grace: Lettered 1947-48, coach Buffalo 1951-67
• Ray Haskins: Lettered 1946-47-48, coach Huntley 1954-56
• Lawrence “Shad” Martoglio: Lettered 1946-47-48, coach Cody 1949, 1957-62
• George Waters: Lettered 1946-47-48, coach Riverton 1949-50, Manville 1951
• Carl Selmer: Lettered 1947, coach Worland 1947-56**
• Earl “Shadow” Ray: Lettered 1941-42-47, coach Midwest 1944
• Robert Cooper: Lettered 1946, coach Greybull 1947-48
• Henry “Hank” Rohn: Lettered 1946, coach Torrington 1947, Riverton 1951-55
• Warren Capellen: Lettered 1942-46, coach Pinedale 1950-54, Kemmerer 1955-58*
• Antone “Tony” Katana: Lettered 1942-46, coach Superior 1948-53
• Frank Gruden: Lettered 1942, coach Evanston 1947-50, Basin 1957-58
• Al Lokanc: Lettered 1940-41, coach Rock Springs 1948-54
• Bill Strannigan: Lettered 1940, coach University Prep 1941*
• Lou Thorpe: Lettered 1939-40, coach Hanna 1941
• Seth Banks: Lettered 1939, coach Guernsey 1941
• George Dorrington: Lettered 1937-38-39, coach Hanna 1950-52, Gillette 1953-60*
• Thomas Odwin Nipper: Lettered 1937-38, coach Pine Bluffs 1939
• Sam Fratto: Lettered 1936-37-38, coach University Prep 1939
• Lee Kizzire: Lettered 1934-35-36, coach Riverton 1939-40
• Warren Scoggan: Lettered 1934-35, coach Lusk 1938-40
• John E. Deti: Lettered 1933-34-35, coach Meeteetse 1941, Shoshoni 1942, Laramie 1944-76
• Willard “Buzz” West: Lettered 1932-34, coach Green River 1935-37, Thermopolis 1938-40, 1945*
• Carl Dir: Lettered 1930-31-34, coach Manville 1938-40, Shoshoni 1941, Worland 1942-43, Rawlins 1944-48
• Howard Bash: Lettered 1933, coach Torrington 1934-35, Gillette 1936, Rock Springs 1941
• Homer Bash: Lettered 1932-33, coach Lingle 1934
• Walter Dowler: Lettered 1931-32-33, coach Basin 1934-35, Rock Springs 1937-40, Cheyenne Central 1941-42
• William Engstrom: Lettered 1931-32-33, coach Manville 1934-35, Superior 1937-41, Rock Springs 1942-44
• Walter Kingham: Lettered 1929-30-31, coach Basin 1933, Riverton 1934-36, Natrona 1940-43
• Vincent “Joe” Schwartz: Lettered 1930, coach Rawlins 1942-43, Natrona 1944-46, Rawlins 1949-52*
• Jess Eckdall: Lettered 1928-29, coach Lusk 1933-34 (and likely Manville 1932)
• Ralph Stewart: Lettered 1927-28-29, coach Torrington 1930-31
• Wedge Thompson: Lettered 1927-28-29, coach Gillette 1930-31
• Don Harkins: Lettered 1926-27-28, coach University Prep 1929*
• Ray Thompson: Lettered 1926-27, coach University Prep 1930, Ten Sleep 1934, Heart Mountain 1943
• Oscar E. “Oc” Erickson: Lettered 1924-25-26, coach Sheridan 1929-31*
• Claire “Okie” Blanchard: Lettered 1922-23-24, coach Glenrock 1925, Cokeville 1928, Rock Springs 1929-36, Natrona 1937-39, Central 1942-52
• Orion Neff: Lettered 1920, coach University Prep 1921, Laramie 1922
• Fred Layman: Lettered 1917-19-20, coach Natrona 1925*
• Hary Sheldon: Lettered 1919, coach Lingle 1923
• Bill Talbert: Lettered 1916-19, coach University Prep 1920
• Andrew Willis: Lettered 1914-15-19, coach Cowley 1921-23, 1925, Lovell 1927-28*
• Charles C.A. Jones: Lettered 1905-06-07-08-09-11, coach Cheyenne Central 1912-14

*-Nine coaches — Capellen, Strannigan, Dorrington, West, Schwartz, Erickson, Harkins, Layman and Willis — appeared on both this list and the UW basketball letterwinners list.

Another five former UW letterwinners and coaches could be members of this list, too. However, I couldn’t verify that these people with similar first names and the same last name were actually the same people (and if you can help with these mysteries, leave a comment!):

• Henry Brown/Hank Brown: Lettered 1940-41, coach Lovell 1947
• H.H. Hill/Harry Hill: Lettered 1904-08-10, coach Laramie 1909
• Ernest Hitchcock/Ed Hitchcock: Lettered 1912-13-14, coach Laramie 1919-20
• Jim Martin: Lettered 1949-50, coach Kemmerer 1962
• Jack McGee/McGee: Lettered 1942, coach Big Piney 1943

–patrick

Post updated July 17, 2019, to include Doug Rigby, who was accidentally left off the first version of this post.