Lawrence Edwin Siemering (November 24, 1910 – July 27, 2009) 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 ...

player and coach. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

and professionally in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) with the

Boston Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football franchise based in the Washington metropolitan area. They are members of the NFC East, East division in the National Football Conference (NFC) of the National Football League (NFL). ...

in 1935 and 1936. Siemering served as the head football coach at the University of the Pacific in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is the most populous city in the county, the List of municipal ...

from 1947 to 1951 and at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

in 1951, compiling a career college football coached record of 41–8–4. He also was the head coach of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

in 1954. In all, Siemering's football career as a player and coach lasted more than forty years. At the time of his death, he was the oldest surviving professional football player at 98 years of age.

Early life

Siemering was born in San Francisco and was raised in

Lodi, California Lodi ( ) is a city in San Joaquin County, California, United States, in the center portion of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. The population was 66,348 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History When a gro ...

, where he attended and played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at Lodi High School. During his senior season as a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

, the Lodi Flames went undefeated. He graduated in 1928. Also during this time, Siemering played semi-pro baseball for the Sacramento Stallions.

Playing career

College

After high school, Siemering accepted a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

scholarship from the

, where he then also played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. He graduated in 1935.

Professional

After his college career, Siemering played center in the

for the

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

and

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

; the Redskins moved to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

. During his tenure there, he played in the 1936 NFL Championship, a loss to the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

Coaching career

High school

After his playing career, Siemering started his coaching career as a

coach at

Manteca High School Manteca High School is a public, co-educational secondary school in Manteca, California, United States that was established on May 21, 1920. It is the oldest school within Manteca Unified School District. Although originally built with a tower, i ...

and Stockton High School in the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...

. In 1943, his Stockton team went undefeated. Siemering then came back to high school coaching in 1956 at

Santa Cruz High School Santa Cruz High School is a comprehensive public school in Santa Cruz, California which originally opened in 1897 and now serves an enrollment of about 1,040 students in grades nine through twelve. It is part of the Santa Cruz City School Dist ...

, where he went 9–0 in 1958.

College

Siemering started his college coaching career as an assistant coach at the College of the Pacific—now known as the University of the Pacific—in

under head coach

Amos Alonzo Stagg Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfie ...

. Stagg retired after the 1946 season, and Siemering took over as head coach in 1947. During his first season as coach, the 1947 Pacific Tigers football team went 10–1, the lone loss against Santa Clara, 21–20. At the end of the regular season, the Tigers played in the

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 beat Wichita, 28–14. Siemering had another winning record in 1948 and went 7–3–1. However, he is best known for his 1949 Pacific team that went an undefeated at 11–0. The team came close to losing only once in 1949, when it defeated

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

in the first game of the season, 7–6. The Tigers outscored their opponents 575–66, led the nation in offense, and were ranked as high as tenth in the AP Poll. During the season, the Tigers scored 75 points or more three times, winning 75–20 over

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

, 88–0 over Cal Poly, and 75–0 over the

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. The team was the 15th college team in history to score 500 or more points in a single season. During his four-year tenure at Pacific, Siemering went 35–5–3 with a .849 winning percentage, the best of any head coach in program history. He then coached at

in 1951, where he went 6–3–1. Despite the winning record, he was fired after using an ineligible player who used a fake name. After a brief second stint in high school teaching, Siemering then became the inaugural head coach of

Cabrillo College Cabrillo College is a public community college in Aptos, California. It is named after the conquistador Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo and opened in 1959. Cabrillo College has an enrollment of about 9,700 students per term. Facilities Classes are of ...

, a two-year

community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

Aptos, California Aptos (Ohlone for "The People") is an unincorporated town in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The town is made up of several small villages, which together form Aptos: Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley, Aptos Village, Cabrillo, Seacliff, ...

. He coached there from 1959 to 1965. While at Cabrillo, he also coached the Seahawks' golf team until 1976. Siemering was inducted into the first class of the University of the Pacific Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982. His 1947 and 1949 teams were inducted later.

Professional

In 1953, Siemering was an

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

coach for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

, under head coach

Curly Lambeau Earl Louis "Curly" Lambeau ( ; April 9, 1898 – June 1, 1965) was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). Lambeau, along with his friend and fellow Green Bay, Wisconsin native, George Whitney ...

. He then left the NFL in 1954 to become the head coach of the

in the

Personal life

Siemering was married to Sophie Siemering, who died in 2001. On July 27, 2009, he died at Watsonville Community Hospital after a fall at his

Watsonville, California Watsonville is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, in the Monterey Bay Area of the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. The population was 52,590 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Predominantly Latino and ...

home.

Head coaching record

College football

Junior college

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Siemering, Larry 1910 births 2009 deaths American football centers Arizona State Sun Devils football coaches Boston Redskins players Cabrillo Seahawks football coaches Calgary Stampeders coaches Pacific Tigers baseball coaches Pacific Tigers football coaches San Francisco Dons football players San Joaquin Delta Mustangs football coaches Washington Redskins coaches High school football coaches in California Players of American football from Lodi, California Sportspeople from Watsonville, California Players of American football from Santa Cruz County, California Players of American football from San Francisco Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in California