Edward Adam Kriwiel (September 8, 1926 – December 2, 2007) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

coach. A member of seven Kansas halls of fame, Kriwiel was a figurehead in state high school sports for many years.

Playing career

High school

At Tilden Tech High School, a public school in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Kriwiel was the captain of the undefeated high school football team. They won the Chicago City Championship, pitting the champions of the public school league against the champions of the private school league in front of 68,000 fans at

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears from the National ...

. Four of his high school teammates went on to play at Notre Dame for

Frank Leahy Francis William Leahy (August 27, 1908 – June 21, 1973) was an American college football player and coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He served as the head football coach at Boston College from 1939 to ...

, but it was Kriwiel who was named “Most Valuable Player” of the team.

College

Kriwiel attended the Municipal University of Wichita—now

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

—in 1947, where he started for the Shockers at

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. He holds several school records, and he led the Shockers to

Raisin Bowl The Raisin Bowl was an annual post-season American football, American college football bowl game played at Ratcliffe Stadium in Fresno, California, from 1946 to 1949. The first four games were played on January 1, the last on December 31. The g ...

and Camellia Bowl appearances. He was inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

Coaching career

Wichita State

Kriwiel was the 28th head football coach at

and he held that position for the 1968 season, leading the Shockers to an 0–10 record.

High school football

Kriwiel was more successful at the high school ranks. Prior to coaching at Wichita State, Kriwiel was the head coach at

Wichita West High School Wichita West High School, known locally as West, is a public secondary school in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is operated by Wichita USD 259 school district and serves students in grades 9 to 12. The high school is located southwest of dow ...

for 14 years, leaving there with a 33-game winning streak. After coaching in college, Kriwiel spent the rest of his career coaching football and golf and serving as the athletic director at Kapaun Mt. Carmel High School in Wichita. Kriwiel won 297 games as a high school football coach and his teams had just two losing seasons in 36 years. His teams played in 12 state championship games and won 9.

High school golf

Kriwiel was also highly successful as a high school golf coach at Kapaun-Mt. Carmel. Since 1969 his teams won 20 state titles and 28 top-four finishes. While unofficial, this is believed by many to be a national record.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kriwiel, Eddie 1926 births 2007 deaths American football quarterbacks American golf instructors Wichita State Shockers football coaches Wichita State Shockers football players High school football coaches in Kansas Sports coaches from Chicago Coaches of American football from Illinois Players of American football from Chicago