Burt Ingwersen

Burton A. Ingwersen (1898 in Bryant, Iowa – 1969) was an American college football coach. He served for 25 years as an assistant coach at the University of Illinois and was the 12th head football coach at the University of Iowa.

Background

Burt Ingwersen was born in a suburb of Clinton, Iowa, but his parents moved him across the river into Illinois when Ingwersen was in grade school. Since his high school did not compete in football, Ingwersen played across the river at Clinton High School. He accepted a scholarship offer from the University of Illinois.

Illinois Athlete and Scholar

Ingwersen played for Coach Robert Zuppke at Illinois from 1917 to 1919. During that time, the Illini won two Western Conference titles and the 1919 national championship. After playing one year of professional football in the first year of the NFL for George Halas and the Decatur Staleys, later renamed the Chicago Bears, he became an assistant coach at Illinois under Zuppke from 1921-1923, the team again winning the college national championship in 1923.

Head Coach at Iowa

Coach Howard Jones left Iowa for Trinity College (now known as Duke University) in 1923 after eight years that saw two unbeaten seasons, and a 42-17-1 overall record, though aside from the two undefeated years Jones never finished higher than 4th in the conference. Paul Belting succeeded Jones as athletic director, needing first of all a new coach to fill Jones's shoes, he nearly managed to lure Knute Rockne from Notre Dame. Belting and Rockne had reached a deal in principle, but Rockne insisted that the media not be informed. When the "Chicago Tribune" ran a headline on March 23, 1924, speculating on Rockne's proposed move to Iowa, Rockne was quickly signed to a ten year extension by Notre Dame. [ 75 Years With The Fighting Hawkeyes, by Bert McCrane & Dick Lamb, Pages 85-88 (ASIN|B0007E01F8) ]

Belting offered Ingwersen a three-year contract, making him the 12th coach in Iowa football history. The selection was opposed by many Iowa fans at the time. Critics had two complaints. The first was that Ingwersen was not a "name" coach; he had only been out of college for three years, and he did not have the credentials of Rockne. Secondly, Ingwersen was perceived as a "traitor" by some Hawkeyes who felt that despite growing up in Illinois he was a native-born Iowan who turned his back on the state to play and coach for the Illini. [ University of Iowa Football, by Chuck Bright, Page 112 (ISBN 0-87397-233-3) ]

Iowa finished with a terrific 6-1-1 record in Burt Ingwersen's first year as a head coach, better than Jones had managed the previous year. Unfortunately, the lone loss cost Iowa the Big Ten title. Worse for some fans, the loss was to Zuppke and Illinois, Ingwersen's alma mater, the same school that had cost Iowa the championship in 1918 and 1919 while Ingwersen was a member of the Illini squad.

Iowa won the first five games of the 1925 season before losing their last three. The most notable win came in Iowa's third game against Illinois. Ledrue Galloway, a talented black tackle from the 1924 team, was fighting tuberculosis on his sickbed. Just before the 1925 game with Illinois, the Hawkeye team received a telegram from Galloway, stating, "There will be twelve Iowa men on the field to beat Illinois. I am with you." Things looked bleak at first, however, when Red Grange returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown. But Iowa fought back and delivered a 12-10 victory for their teammate Galloway, who died less than a year later. [ 75 Years With The Fighting Hawkeyes, by Bert McCrane & Dick Lamb, Page 93 (ASIN|B0007E01F8) ]

Iowa went 7-9 over the next two years, winning just one conference game in 1926 and 1927. Fan opposition to Ingwersen grew and fans turned on Ingwersen's biggest supporter, Paul Belting, as well.

Iowa was suspended from athletic participation in the Big Ten, effective January 1, 1930 in the wake of a recruiting scandal that stretched back to the Howard Jones era. After agreeing to suspend current players who had been paid from an alumni slush fund and to fire athletic director Belting, who was implicated in the scheme, Iowa was reinstated a month later.

The loss of his players greatly hampered Coach Ingwersen's career at Iowa, and after going 1-6-1 in the 1931 season, scoring just seven points all year long, it was clear it would be a long time before Iowa would again be competitive within the conference. Ingwersen resigned after that season, stating that he "did not care to fight the critics who are now or will be asking for a new coach at Iowa." [ 75 Years With The Fighting Hawkeyes, by Bert McCrane & Dick Lamb, Page 144 (ASIN|B0007E01F8) ]

Ingwersen had a 33-27-4 record at Iowa, and he only had two losing seasons in the eight years he coached there.

Assistant Coaching Career

Burt Ingwersen soon became an assistant football coach at Northwestern under Lynn Waldorf. He coached there during the 1930s and served as Northwestern's baseball coach from 1936-1939 as well. Ingwersen later served in World War II.

After the war, Ingwersen again became an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Illinois, this time under "Mr. Illini", Ray Eliot. He also served as an assistant under Peter Elliott at Illinois, serving a total of 22 years in his second stint (1945-1966). He died in 1969.

Head coaching record

CFB Yearly Record Subhead
name = Iowa Hawkeyes
startyear = 1924
conf = Big Ten Conference
endyear = 1931CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1924
name = Iowa
overall = 6-1-1
conference = 3-1-1
confstanding = T-2nd
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bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1925
name = Iowa
overall = 5-3
conference = 2-2
confstanding = T-4th
bowlname =
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bcsbowl =
ranking =
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championship =
year = 1926
name = Iowa
overall = 3-5
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ranking =
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year = 1927
name = Iowa
overall = 4-4
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bowlname =
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bcsbowl =
ranking =
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name = Iowa
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bowlname =
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ranking =
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championship =
year = 1929
name = Iowa
overall = 4-2-2
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confstanding = 5th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1930
name = Iowa
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bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1931
name = Iowa
overall = 1-6-1
conference = 0-3-1
confstanding = 9th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
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ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record End
overall = 33-27-4(.547)
bcs =
poll = two
polltype =

References