Frederick Martin von Appen (born March 22, 1942) is a former

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 coach at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa from 1996 to 1998, compiling a record of 5–31. He also served as an assistant on a number of

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 ...

and

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) coaching staffs over a 40-year period.

Playing career

Von Appen was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

and guard at

Linfield College Linfield University is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college with campuses in McMinnville, Oregon, McMinnville, and Portland, Oregon. Linfield Wildcats athletics participate in the Northwest ...

in McMinnville, Oregon, where he was a three-time all-conference selection. He was briefly in the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

camp in 1964.

Coaching career

Von Appen began his coaching career in 1964 at his alma mater, Linfield. He earned a master's degree in secondary education at Linfield in 1965. After leaving Linfield, von Appen served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

before resuming his coaching career at the University of Arkansas in 1969. He moved on to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

in 1970,

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

in 1971, and then the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

from 1972 to 1976. Von Appen made the first of four stints at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

from 1977 to 1978. von Appen spent the 1979 season as 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 ...

' defensive line coach. He resigned during the 1980 preseason in protest of head coach Bart Starr's lenient punishment of defensive end Ezra Johnson, who was caught eating a hot dog on the sidelines during an exhibition game. von Appen returned to Arkansas in 1981, where he was the defensive line coach under Lou Holtz. He returned to Stanford in 1982 for a season. Former Stanford head coach Bill Walsh brought Von Appen to the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

from 1983 to 1988, where his duties included special teams. In 1989, von Appen returned again to Stanford as the defensive coordinator under head coach Dennis Green. From 1990 to 1991, von Appen was the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

. When Walsh became Stanford's head coach for the second time in 1992, he brought von Appen back as defensive coordinator. Von Appen was the defensive line coach at the University of Colorado at Boulder before becoming the head coach at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. He was fired from his post at Hawaii after his third season in 1998, a winless campaign. Von Appen spent the 2000 season as the defensive line coach for the Minnesota Vikings and the 2001 season as the special teams coach for the New York Giants. He retired briefly after the 2001 season, but returned to coaching to serve as the defensive ends coach and assistant head coach at the University of Montana. He retired for good after the 2003 season.

Head coaching record

References

External links

New York Giants profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Von Appen, Fred 1942 births Living people Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Colorado Buffaloes football coaches Green Bay Packers coaches Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football coaches Linfield Wildcats football coaches Linfield Wildcats football players New York Giants coaches Minnesota Vikings coaches Montana Grizzlies football coaches Oregon Ducks football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches San Francisco 49ers coaches Stanford Cardinal football coaches UCLA Bruins football coaches Virginia Tech Hokies football coaches Players of American football from Eugene, Oregon Coaches of American football from Oregon