Ted Kessinger (born January 15, 1941) is an American former

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 ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at Bethany College in

Lindsborg, Kansas Lindsborg is a city in McPherson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 3,776. Lindsborg is known for its large Swedes, Swedish, other Nordic and Scandinavian Americans, Nordic and Sc ...

from 1976 to 2003, compiling a record of 219–57–1 for a winning percentage of . He is among the college football coaches with the most wins and the highest winning percentage. Kessinger was the head coach of the first American football team to play in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, and he was elected to the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

in 2010. His son is Kent Kessinger, the head coach at

Ottawa University Ottawa University (OU) is a private Baptist university with its main campus in Ottawa, Kansas. It also has a second residential campus in Surprise, Arizona, and adult campuses in the Kansas City and Milwaukee metropolitan areas, as well as onlin ...

Coaching career

Assistant coaching

Before becoming a head coach, Kessinger worked as an assistant coach at Augustana College in

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls ( ) is the List of cities in South Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the List of United States cities by population, 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha Coun ...

and the

South Dakota Coyotes The South Dakota Coyotes, also known as the USD Coyotes ( ), are the athletic teams for the University of South Dakota. Their team colors are vermilion and white. They have been members of Summit League of the NCAA's Division I since the 2011� ...

Vermillion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color family and pigment most often used between antiquity and the 19th century from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide). It is synonymous with red orange, which often takes a modern ...

Bethany

Kessinger was the head football coach at Bethany College in

from 1976 to 2003, where he posted a record of 219–57–1. He guided Bethany to the NAIA playoffs ten times and achieved a top 25 ranking 20 times. His teams never posted a losing season during his entire coaching tenure. In 2000, his team won the American Family Charity Bowl, defeating the

Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes The Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes are the athletic teams that represent Kansas Wesleyan University, located in Salina, Kansas, in intercollegiate athletics as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing ...

by a score of 20–3. Kessinger was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 2003 as well as the

Kansas Sports Hall of Fame The Kansas Sports Hall of Fame is a museum located in Wichita, dedicated to preserving the history of sports in the state of Kansas. The museum provides exhibits, archives, facilities, services, and activities to honor those individuals and t ...

in 2005.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kessinger, Ted 1941 births Living people American football centers American football linebackers Augustana (Illinois) Vikings football coaches Augustana (South Dakota) Vikings football coaches Augustana (South Dakota) Vikings football players Bethany Swedes football coaches South Dakota Coyotes football coaches College wrestling coaches in the United States College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Lindsborg, Kansas Sportspeople from Sioux Falls, South Dakota Players of American football from South Dakota