Bernard W. Bierman (March 11, 1894 – March 7, 1977) was an

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

player and coach of football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. He coached from 1919 to 1950 except for a span during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

when he served in the U.S. armed forces. Bierman was the head coach at the University of Montana (1919–1921), Mississippi State University (1925–1926), Tulane University (1927–1931), and his alma mater, the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

(1932–1941, 1945–1950), compiling a career college football record of 153–65–12. At Minnesota, Bierman's Golden Gophers compiled a 93–35–6 record, won five

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, i ...

and seven

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conferen ...

titles, and completed five undefeated seasons. Bierman was also the head basketball coach at Montana (1919–1922), Mississippi State (1925–1927), and Tulane (1928–1930), tallying a career

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

mark of 89–51.

Personal life

Bierman grew up in Litchfield, Minnesota and was married to Clara McKenzie Bierman. They had two sons, William A. Bierman, a lawyer in

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

, and James Bierman, of

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

. Bierman was a brother of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bierman, Bernie 1894 births 1977 deaths American football halfbacks Basketball coaches from Minnesota Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football players Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball coaches Montana Grizzlies football coaches Montana Grizzlies basketball coaches Tulane Green Wave football coaches Tulane Green Wave men's basketball coaches College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Litchfield, Minnesota People from Springfield, Minnesota Coaches of American football from Minnesota Players of American football from Minnesota