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), 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. He served as the head coach at the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

from 1996 to 1998, compiling a record of 5–31. He also served as an assistant on a number of college football and

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the maj ...

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 line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

and

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

Linfield College Linfield University is a private university with campuses in McMinnville, Oregon, McMinnville, and Portland, Oregon. Linfield Wildcats athletics participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division III (NCAA), Division II ...

McMinnville, Oregon McMinnville is the county seat of and largest city in Yamhill County, Oregon, United States. The city is named after McMinnville, Tennessee. As of the 2019 census, the city had a population estimate of 34,743. McMinnville is at the confluence o ...

, 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 that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

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 land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

before resuming his coaching career at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

in 1969. He moved on to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

in 1970,

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

in 1971, and then the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

from 1972 to 1976. Von Appen made the first of four stints at Stanford University 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 club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...

' defensive line coach. He resigned during the 1980 preseason in protest of head coach

Bart Starr Bryan Bartlett Starr (January 9, 1934 – May 26, 2019) was an American professional football quarterback and head coach for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Al ...

's lenient punishment of defensive end

Ezra Johnson Ezra Ray Johnson (born October 2, 1955) is a retired American football defensive end who played for the Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts and Houston Oilers in a 15-year career that lasted from 1977 to 1991 in the National Football League (NF ...

, 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 Louis Leo Holtz (born January 6, 1937) is an American former football player, coach, and analyst. He served as the head football coach at The College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the New York ...

. 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) 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 of the league's National ...

from 1983 to 1988, where his duties included special teams. In 1989, von Appen returned again to Stanford as the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

under head coach

Dennis Green Dennis Earl Green (February 17, 1949 – July 21, 2016) was an American football coach. During his National Football League (NFL) career, Green coached the Minnesota Vikings for 10 seasons. He coached the Vikings to eight playoff appearances in ...

. 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 public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

. When Bill 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 The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado s ...

before becoming the head coach at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

. 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 The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansio ...

and the 2001 season as the special teams coach for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

. 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 The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

. 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