Herman Stegeman

Herman James "Stege" Stegeman (January 21, 1891 – October 22, 1939) was a coach of American football, basketball, baseball, and track and field, and a college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Beloit College, Monmouth College (1916–1917), and the University of Georgia (1920–1922), compiling a career college football coaching record of 29–17–6. At Georgia, Stegeman was also the head basketball coach (1919–1931), head baseball coach (1919–1920), and head track and field coach (1920–1937).

Early years and playing career Stegeman was born and raised in Holland, Michigan, and was of Dutch descent. He attended the University of Chicago, where he starred in many sports, including track and field and football under the direction of the legendary Amos Alonzo Stagg. Stegeman played on the 1913 Chicago Maroons football team, later recognized as a national champion, and was hailed by his coach, Stagg, as one of the finest athletes he had ever had coached. After playing football for another season in 1914, Stegeman graduated from Chicago with a Bachelor of Philosophy (Ph.B.) in 1915.

Coaching career During the end of World War I, the United States Army stationed Stegeman in Athens, Georgia to create physical training courses for the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program at the University of Georgia. After arriving, he was hired by Georgia's football coach, W. A. Cunningham, as an assistant for the 1919 Georgia Bulldogs football team. When Cunningham returned to the Army after that season, Stegeman became the head coach of the football team, serving in that position from 1920 to 1922. In addition, he also became the head coach of the basketball, baseball and track and field teams in 1920. His career football record stands at 20–6–3 (.741). He stepped down as baseball coach after one year.

After the 1922 football season, Stegeman relished is role as head coach to become the Georgia's athletic director. He remained as head coach of the basketball and track and field teams. As head coach of the Georgia basketball team from 1920 until 1931, he still owns the second-best winning percentage (.686) of any Georgia coach with more than 50 games. His final group of Bulldogs won 23 of 25 games and Stegeman was regarded by many as one of the first great basketball "gurus."

Stegeman coached Georgia's track and field team for 17 years, and was the personal coach of Forrest Towns, who won a gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Stegeman led the Georgia track team to its only Southeastern Conference (SEC) men's team conference championship, in 1937, with Towns as the star of the squad.

Death and honors Stegeman died on October 22, 1939, at his home in Athens, following a long illness.

In 1946, Stegeman Hall was named in honor of Stegeman and initially served as the home of the university's athletic and physical education departments. However, that building was demolished in the early 1990s in preparation for events hosted by the university during the 1996 Summer Olympics. As a result, Charles Boynton Knapp, the university's president at the time, led the effort to rename Georgia Coliseum as Stegeman Coliseum in Stegeman's honor on March 2, 1996.

Head coaching record Football

Basketball