Calvin C. Stoll (December 12, 1923 – August 25, 2000) 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 served as the head football coach at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

from 1969 to 1971 and his alma mater, the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, from 1972 to 1978, compiling a career

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 ...

head coaching record of 54–56.

Early life and playing career

Stoll was born on December 12, 1923, on a farm near

Page, North Dakota Page is a city in Cass County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 190 at the 2020 census. Page was founded in 1882. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. Demographics ...

, and began his football playing career as a fullback for a six-man team at nearby Tower City, North Dakota. At age 17, he enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

on June 3, 1941. With the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Stoll's tour of duty was extended to 1947. During World War II, he served in the Pacific Theater. Stoll also would play football for the Memphis Navy and Seattle Navy squads during his time in the U.S. Navy. After he was discharged from the U.S. Navy on January 9, 1947, Stoll enrolled in the winter quarter at the

. Stoll would play

end End, END, Ending, or ENDS may refer to: End Mathematics *End (category theory) * End (topology) * End (graph theory) * End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) * End (endomorphism) Sports and games *End (gridiron football) *End, a division ...

for the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 (9 men's, 12 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...

football team in the 1948 and 1949 seasons. In 1950, Stoll elected to forgo his final year of football eligibility so he could graduate early with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in education from the University of Minnesota.

Coaching career

Before graduating from Minnesota in June 1950, Stoll was named the head coach at Mound High School (later renamed to Mound Westonka High School) on May 10, 1950. At Mound High School, he guided the football team to a 6–1 record and a Lake Conference co-championship. After the 1950

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 ...

season, Stoll jumped to the college ranks where he served as an assistant coach from 1951 to 1968. Stoll served as an assistant coach at

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public university, public land grant colleges, land-grant research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah, United States. Founded in 1888 under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts as Utah's federal ...

from 1951 to 1954, the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

from 1955 to 1956, the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

from 1957 to 1958, and

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

from 1959 to 1968. With the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 Varsity team, varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan Army, Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the sc ...

, he helped the team achieve back to back

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, 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 be ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

and

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. Stoll served as the head coach at

from 1969 to 1971 where he led the Demon Deacons to their first

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC) championship in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

. He was named ACC Coach of the Year that season. Stoll then served as the head football coach at his alma mater, the University of Minnesota, from 1972 to 1978. Stoll's most notable season at Minnesota was in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

when he led the Golden Gophers to a 16–0 shutout victory over top ranked

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

and a trip to the 1977 Hall of Fame Classic. Stoll finished his college coaching career after the 1978 season, compiling a career

record of 54–56. In the spring of 1986, Stoll relocated to Italy to become the head coach of Italian amateur football team Warriors Bologna, and won the Italian Bowl VI at

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

on July 5, 1986. The 1986 Warriors Bologna season was Stoll's last football coaching role as serious health problems forced him into retirement.

Illness, death, and honors

After returning to the United States, Stoll was diagnosed with idiopathic cardiomyopathy, a degeneration of the heart muscle, of unknown origin. Stoll underwent a

heart transplant A heart transplant, or a cardiac transplant, is a surgical transplant procedure performed on patients with end-stage heart failure when other medical or surgical treatments have failed. , the most common procedure is to take a functioning heart ...

on July 23, 1987. In 1988, Stoll and other fellow heart transplant recipients, started Second Chance for Life, a support group for heart transplant patients. Also, in 1988, Stoll was inducted into the Minnesota Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. After a month long illness due to heart complications, Stoll died on August 25, 2000, 13 years after his heart transplant. In 2001, the Minnesota Football Coaches Association (MFCA) established the Cal Stoll Award. The Cal Stoll Award is given annually by MFCA to an individual connected to football in the State of Minnesota who has overcome adversity.

Head coaching record

High school

College

AIFA Serie A

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoll, Cal 1923 births 2000 deaths American football ends Denver Pioneers football coaches Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Michigan State Spartans football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football players Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches Utah State Aggies football coaches Wake Forest Demon Deacons football coaches High school football coaches in Minnesota People from Cass County, North Dakota People from Valley City, North Dakota Coaches of American football from North Dakota Players of American football from North Dakota Heart transplant recipients