Art Haege

Arthur T. Haege (September 29, 1937 – March 5, 2007) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at St. Ambrose and later had short stints in the American Football League (AFL) with the Boston Patriots, the United Football League (UFL) with the Chicago Bulls, and the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. During his time in professional football, he began a coaching career. Haege later coached various teams at the high school, college, and professional arena football levels.

Early life and education Haege was born on September 29, 1937, in Canton, Illinois. One of four children (three sons, one daughter) born to Bob (a former player at Notre Dame, who was dismissed after one season) and Kathleen Haege, he liked football from a young age. and attended Spaulding Institute there, where he was a starter on the baseball and football teams. Haege played college football at St. Ambrose University, in Davenport, Iowa, from 1956 to 1959. He was a four-year letterman and was for two years the team's top receiver. He later became, in 1993, the first person to be inducted into their athletic hall of fame.

While at St. Ambrose, Haege also won a regional Golden Gloves tournament and played a season of semi-professional baseball with the Holland Dutchmen. He later rejoined the Patriots in 1961, and upon joining for the second time was changed from end to linebacker. After playing in the 1961 preseason with Boston, he was released in late August.

In July 1962, Haege was signed by the Chicago Bulls of the United Football League (UFL). He scored one touchdown on the season, wearing number 66 while playing linebacker and punter. He was released in mid-August, after having appeared in just one game. Following the 1962 season, he became a coach at St. Ignace High School, serving as an assistant in 1963, as well as junior varsity coach and basketball coach, before being promoted to head coach in 1964. It was the first championship in school history. and led them to a 5–3 record, their first winning season in five years. The following year, he enrolled at Northern Michigan University (NMU) to work on a master's degree in physical education. He also became graduate assistant and defensive backs coach at the school. He also, according to The Des Moines Register, coached Sheboygan High School in 1967. and brought Two Rivers, which had not won more than two games in a season in the prior decade, to a mark of 7–1–1. They were also ranked the third-best "big school" in the state at the end of the season (state playoffs did not yet exist). In January 1970, he was told he was offered a new contract; however, when he went to accept it, Haege was told the offer had been pulled. including a win over his former team, St. Ignace. in three years prior to Haege's arrival, but went 4–4–1 in his first season. The decision was a huge surprise to almost everyone, and caused the town to unite in opposition to the board. Haege returned, and in 1973 led Virginia to an 8–1 record, the best in school history. Their only loss was to Eveleth, the eventual state champions. Virginia won five games in 1975, and only four in 1976, before Haege was again dismissed by the school board due to an ongoing feud. Students again protested, writing on the city water tower "VHS Needs Haege," although this time he did not return. Haege had to for a time coach all by himself, the freshman team had only 11 players, and the varsity team had just three experienced players for Haege to work with. In his second season, he helped them win the state championship for the first time in team history. He served in both the positions for only one season, and in England led his Jets team to an 10–0 record in the 1988 regular season to win the conference title. The Jets then lost in the premier league playoffs quarterfinals 54–34 to the London Capitals. As Westmar was an National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) program, this meant that Haege had now coached at every collegiate level that exists in football: NCAA Division I at Wisconsin; NCAA Division II at Northern Michigan; NCAA Division III at Drake; NAIA at Westmar; and NJCAA with Hibbing and Vermilion. He was relieved of his coaching duties following the 1991 season.

Haege joined Saban in 1994 as defensive line coach and defensive coordinator During the season, he accepted a position to become a line coach (sources disagree on offensive line versus defensive line) for the Shreveport Pirates of the Canadian Football League (CFL), although he later decided against this and returned with Milwaukee. He served as head coach for the final eight games of the season, losing all of them.

After the 1994 season, Haege was announced as the director of player personnel as well as the defensive coordinator and line coach of the newly formed Iowa Barnstormers. He was the first coach to be hired by the franchise, and was the one who had to recruit players for their first season in 1995. Following the 1995 season, Haege accepted a position as the head coach of the new Minnesota Fighting Pike. However, he suffered a serious stroke in November 1995 and ended up resigning in January 1996, before having coached in any games. He resigned partially because of the stroke and because, as he said, "I knew it just wouldn't work out ... I wanted my own full-time assistant coaches, who had played or coached in the league, knew the game. These guys didn't fit my approach. I'm more of a hell-bent, raise-hell kind of guy who is going to go after people. I'm not an intramural junior college guy. I'm going to go after things my way. I didn't want a bunch of weaklings. They had some real nice people as coaches, but I saw they just weren't my kind of folks." He helped Iowa reach the ArenaBowl two consecutive years in 1996 and 1997. The Barnstormers were demoted to AF2 in 2001, and that placed them in the same league and in a position to play the Quad City Steamwheelers, where Haege's son Frank coached. The two Haeges had also played several times while assistants, with Art going 4–1 in those games. Although Art Haege predicted a victory for his team, After the sixth game of the season, by which point the Barnstormers were 2–4, Haege was fired due to the team's poor fan attendance and poor record. He was afterwards invited to remain as director of player personnel, but dismissed the offer, being greatly upset with the firing.

After the 2001 season ended, Haege became the defensive line coach and a Midwest scout for the New Jersey Gladiators, where Frank Haege (who had left the Steamwheelers) was head coach. He spent the 2003 season out of coaching, but prior to the 2004 National Indoor Football League season was named head coach of the Sioux City Bandits. Haege led the team to a 4–4 start, but was fired midseason by general manager Bob Scott, who was disappointed in the team's record. Midseason in 2005, Haege became defensive coordinator of the Arkansas Twisters in AF2. He remained in the position until his death in early 2007.

Coaching style Haege was known for his very disciplined style of coaching, while having a sense of humor at the same time. Several newspapers likened him to Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi. In 1968, when asked about his coaching philosophy, Haege said, "We try to teach hitting football – rather, we demand it. We're hard on the kids both mentally and physically. We teach viciousness because that's the way the game was meant to be played ... Our indoctrination is hit, hit, hit. We want each and every kid to be an attacker; we want each one to want to succeed."

Early in his coaching career, Haege often yelled at his players, being called a "terror on the sidelines and in practice," and after each loss, he made his players crawl from the locker room to the practice field, saying "if you played like a worm, you crawled like a worm." The field was soaked, significantly hampering Haege's opponent, and his team won, 6–0. He later remarried to Josie, whom he met while at Drake, and had a further two sons with her, later divorcing. He had previously stated that he wished to continue coaching until turning 70.

Head coaching record High school

Junior college

Europe

Arena Team Year Regular season PostseasonWonLostWin %Finish Won Lost Win % ResultSheboygan Redwings (CSFL)196737 Unknown 0 0 .000 –Milwaukee Mustangs (AFL)*08 6th in American Conference 0 0 .000 –Iowa Barnstormers (AF2)§2001243rd in Midwest Division 0 0 .000 –Sioux City Bandits (NIFL)§200444 3rd in Northern Division 0 0 .000 –Total92300.000 indicates interim head coach position – § indicates Haege did not finish the season as head coach