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{{Short description|American football player and coach (1919–1988)}}
{{Unreferenced|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox college coach
'''Wally Lemm''' (October 23, 1919 – October 2, 1988) was a [[American football|football]] coach at the high school, collegiate and professional levels and achieved his greatest prominence as head coach of the [[American Football League]]'s [[Houston Oilers]] and the [[National Football League]]'s [[Arizona Cardinals|St. Louis Cardinals (football)]].
| name = Wally Lemm
| image = Wally_Lemm.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Lemm from the 1959 ''Forester''
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1919|10|23}}
| birth_place = [[Chicago|Chicago, Illinois]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1988|10|8|1919|10|23}}
| death_place = [[Milwaukee|Milwaukee, Wisconsin]], U.S.
| alma_mater =
| player_sport1 = Football
| player_years2 = 1938–1941
| player_team2 = [[Carroll Pioneers football|Carroll (WI)]]
| player_positions =
| coach_sport1 = Football
| coach_years2 = 1945
| coach_team2 = [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Notre Dame]] (assistant)
| coach_years3 = 1946–1947
| coach_team3 = [[Carroll Pioneers football|Carroll (WI)]] (backfield)
| coach_years4 = 1948
| coach_team4 = Waukesha HS (WI)
| coach_years5 = 1949–1951
| coach_team5= [[Lake Forest Foresters football|Lake Forest]] (backfield)
| coach_years6 = 1952–1953
| coach_team6 = Lake Forest
| coach_years7 = 1954
| coach_team7 = [[Montana State Bobcats football|Montana State]] (assistant)
| coach_years8 = 1955
| coach_team8 = Montana State
| coach_years9 = 1956
| coach_team9 = [[History of the Chicago Cardinals|Chicago Cardinals]] (DB)
| coach_years10 = 1957
| coach_team10 = Lake Forest
| coach_years11 = 1959
| coach_team11 = Chicago Cardinals (DB)
| coach_years12 = 1960–1961
| coach_team12 = [[History of the Houston Oilers|Houston Oilers]] (AHC)
| coach_years13 = 1961
| coach_team13 = Houston Oilers (interim HC)
| coach_years14 = 1962–1965
| coach_team14 = [[History of the St. Louis Cardinals (NFL)|St. Louis Cardinals]]
| coach_years15 = 1966–1970
| coach_team15 = Houston Oilers
| coach_sport16 = Basketball
| coach_years17 = 1949–1954
| coach_team17 = [[Lake Forest Foresters men's basketball|Lake Forest]]
| coach_years18 = 1954–1955
| coach_team18 = [[Montana State Bobcats men's basketball|Montana State]]
| coach_years19 = 1958–1959
| coach_team19 = Lake Forest
| overall_record = 64–64–7 (AFL/NFL regular season)<br>21–10–2 (college football)<br>80–72 (college basketball)
| bowl_record =
| tournament_record =
| championships = Football<br>2 [[College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin|CCI]] (1952, 1957)<br>[[American Football League playoffs|AFL]] ([[1961 American Football League Championship Game|1961]])
| awards =
| coaching_records =
}}
'''Walter Horner Lemm''' (October 23, 1919 – October 8, 1988) was an [[American football]] coach at the high school, collegiate and professional levels and achieved his greatest prominence as head coach of the [[American Football League]]'s [[History of the Houston Oilers|Houston Oilers]] and the [[National Football League]]'s [[History of the St. Louis Cardinals (NFL)|St. Louis Cardinals]].


==Early career==
Lemm graduated from [[Carroll College (Wisconsin)|Carroll College]] ([[Wisconsin]]) in 1942 playing football for head coach John Breen at running back. After service in [[World War II]] during the next two years, Lemm then served as an assistant coach at the [[University of Notre Dame]] under [[Hugh Devore]] in 1945. Lemm returned to Carroll as an assistant coach with the school's football team the following year, then became a head coach for the first time, accepting the top job for Waukesha High School, in [[Wisconsin]], in 1948.
Lemm graduated from [[Carroll University|Carroll College]], in [[Waukesha, Wisconsin]], in 1942 after playing football for head coach [[John W. Breen]]. After service in World War II during the next two years, Lemm served as an assistant coach at the [[University of Notre Dame]] under [[Hugh Devore]] in 1945. Lemm returned to Carroll as an assistant coach with the school's football team the following year, then became a head coach for the first time, accepting the top job for Waukesha High School in 1948.


==Coaching career==
Following Lemm's one year at Waukesha, Carroll's former coach, Breen, took the head coaching position at [[Lake Forest College]]. Lemm served under his leadership for the next three years, while also working as the school's head basketball coach, then replaced Breen in 1952. During his two seasons, he compiled an 11-4-1 record before leaving to accept the head coach position at Montana State University. An 8-1 season in 1954 was followed the next year by a 4-4-1 campaign. On May 14, 1956, he reached the [[NFL]] when he accepted a defensive assistant position with the [[Arizona Cardinals|Chicago Cardinals]].
Following Lemm's one year at Waukesha, Carroll's former coach, Breen, took the head coaching position at [[Lake Forest College]]. Lemm served under his leadership for the next three years, while also working as the school's head basketball coach, then replaced Breen in 1952. During his two seasons, he compiled an 11–4–1 record before leaving to accept the head coach position at Montana State University. An 8–1 season in 1954 was followed the next year by a 4–4–1 campaign. On May 14, 1956, he reached the [[National Football League]] (NFL) when he accepted a defensive assistant position with the [[History of the Chicago Cardinals|Chicago Cardinals]].


Lemm spent just one season before resigning to again accept the head coaching position at Lake Forest. During the next two years, he nearly matched his previous stint at the school with an 11-5 record, winning District Coach of the Year accolades in 1957 from the [[National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics]] (NAIA). On February 21, 1959, he returned to an assistant's role with the Cardinals, and would remain at the professional level for the remainder of his career.
Lemm spent just one season before resigning to again accept the head coaching position at Lake Forest. During the next two years, he nearly matched his previous stint at the school with an 11–5 record, winning District Coach of the Year accolades in 1957 from the [[National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics]] (NAIA). On February 21, 1959, he returned to an assistant's role with the Cardinals, and would remain at the professional level for the remainder of his career.


After again spending a single season with the Cardinals, Lemm resigned on January 12, 1960 to accept an assistant coaching position with the [[Houston Oilers]] of the seminal [[American Football League]]. During the first season of play, the Oilers captured the league's [[American Football League#AFL Championship Games|first-ever title]], but Lemm resigned after the season, returning to [[Libertyville, Illinois]] to work in the sporting goods industry.
After again spending a single season with the Cardinals, Lemm resigned on January 12, 1960, to accept an assistant coaching position with the [[Houston Oilers]] of the seminal [[American Football League]]. During the first season of play, the Oilers captured the league's [[American Football League#AFL Championship Games|first-ever title]], but Lemm resigned after the season, returning to [[Libertyville, Illinois]] to work in the sporting goods industry.


However, after a slow start to the [[1961 AFL season|1961]] season that saw the team with a 1-3-1 record, Oilers' head coach [[Lou Rymkus]] was fired. Lemm was offered the position by his former coach John Breen, the Oilers' Director of Player Personnel, and proceeded to lead the team to nine straight victories. The team then won its second straight title with a 10-3 win over the [[San Diego Chargers]] on December 24, 1961, and Lemm was named AFL Coach of the Year for his efforts.
However, after a slow start to the [[1961 AFL season|1961]] season that saw the team with a 1–3–1 record, Oilers' head coach [[Lou Rymkus]] was fired. Lemm was offered the position by his former coach John Breen, the Oilers' Director of Player Personnel, and proceeded to lead the team to nine straight victories. The team then won its second straight title with a 10–3 win over the [[San Diego Chargers]] on December 24, 1961, and Lemm was named [[National Football League Coach of the Year Award|AFL Coach of the Year]] by both [[UPI]] and the [[Associated Press]] for his efforts.


After orally agreeing to a contract for the next season, Lemm instead resigned on February 22, 1962 to take the top spot with the Cardinals, citing the proximity of St. Louis to his home in [[Lake Bluff, Illinois]]. He replaced [[Pop Ivy]] at St. Louis, and Ivy replaced Lemm at Houston! After a 4-9-1 record in his first year, Lemm came close to capturing the NFL's Eastern Conference title with a 9-5 season in 1963 and a 9-3-2 mark the following year. After signing a contract with a huge pay increase, the Cardinals crashed in 1965 with a 5-9 mark, with Lemm seemingly having job security. However, after Lemm was asked to stay in St. Louis as a full-time coach, he resigned on January 10, 1966, again citing family considerations. Oddly, he then accepted the head coaching job with his former team in Houston 19 days later.
After orally agreeing to a contract for the next season, Lemm instead resigned on February 22, 1962, to take the top spot with the Cardinals, citing the proximity of St. Louis to his home in [[Lake Bluff, Illinois]]. He replaced [[Pop Ivy]] at St. Louis, and Ivy replaced Lemm at Houston. After a 4–9–1 record in his first year, Lemm came close to capturing the NFL's Eastern Conference title with a 9–5 season in 1963 and a 9–3–2 mark the following year. After signing a contract with a huge pay increase, the Cardinals crashed in 1965 with a 5–9 mark, with Lemm seemingly having job security. However, after Lemm was asked to stay in St. Louis as a full-time coach, he resigned on January 10, 1966, again citing family considerations. Oddly, he then accepted the head coaching job with his former team in Houston 19 days later.


The Oilers struggled in 1966 with a 3-11 record, but bounced back in 1967 with a 9-4-1 record and a spot in the AFL Championship game. After a 40-7 thrashing at the hands of the [[Oakland Raiders]], the Oilers again reached the postseason in 1969 compiling a mediocre 6-6-2 record and were again dismantled by the Raiders, 56-7, in the AFL's oddly constructed one year playoff system. For that season the first place team of the West played the second place team of the East and vice versa. The team's first year in the post-merger NFL, 1970, finished with a disastrous 3-10-1 mark. Following a 44-0 loss to his former team in St. Louis on November 1, 1970, Lemm announced he would be retiring at the conclusion of the year, this time citing health issues. Lemm's final game came on December 20 of that year, a 52-10 loss to the Oilers' Lone Star State rivals, the [[Dallas Cowboys]].
The Oilers struggled in 1966 with a 3–11 record, but bounced back in 1967 with a 9–4–1 record and a spot in the AFL Championship game. After a 40–7 thrashing at the hands of the [[Oakland Raiders]], the Oilers again reached the postseason in 1969 compiling a mediocre 6–6–2 record and were again dismantled by the Raiders, 56–7, in the AFL's oddly constructed one year playoff system. For that season the first place team of the West played the second place team of the East and vice versa. The team's first year in the post-merger NFL, 1970, finished with a disastrous 3–10–1 mark. Following a 44–0 loss to his former team in St. Louis on November 1, 1970, Lemm announced he would be retiring at the conclusion of the year, this time citing health issues. Lemm's final game came on December 20 of that year, a 52–10 loss to the Oilers' Lone Star State rivals, the [[Dallas Cowboys]].


==Later life and death==
Lemm stayed off the sidelines for the final 18 years of his life, dying on October 2, 1988, just three weeks short of his 69th birthday.
Lemm died on October 8, 1988, in [[Milwaukee|Milwaukee, Wisconsin]] after a college reunion.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Former Houston coach dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6703426/the_galveston_daily_news/ |newspaper=[[The Galveston Daily News]] |location=[[Galveston, Texas]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=October 10, 1988 |page=3 |access-date=September 19, 2016 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{Open access}} }}</ref>

==Head coaching record==
===College football===
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = [[Lake Forest Foresters football|Lake Forest Foresters]]
| conf = [[College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin|College Conference of Illinois]]
| startyear = 1952
| endyear = 1953
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = conference
| year = [[1952 college football season|1952]]
| name = Lake Forest
| overall = 6–1–1
| conference = 3–0–1
| confstanding = T–1st
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = [[1953 college football season|1953]]
| name = Lake Forest
| overall = 5–3
| conference = 4–1
| confstanding = 2nd
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = [[Montana State Bobcats football|Montana State Bobcats]]
| conf = [[Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference|Rocky Mountain Conference]]
| startyear = 1955
| endyear = single
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = [[1955 college football season|1955]]
| name = [[1955 Montana State Bobcats football team|Montana State]]
| overall = 4–4–1
| conference = 3–2–1
| confstanding = 3rd
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Montana State
| overall = 4–4–1
| confrecord = 3–2–1
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = [[Lake Forest Foresters football|Lake Forest Foresters]]
| conf = [[College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin|College Conference of Illinois]]
| startyear = 1957
| endyear = single
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = conference
| year = [[1957 NCAA College Division football season|1957]]
| name = Lake Forest
| overall = 6–2
| conference = 6–1
| confstanding = T–1st
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Lake Forest
| overall = 17–6–1
| confrecord = 13–2–1
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
| overall = 21–10–2
| bowls = no
| poll = no
| polltype =
}}

===AFL/NFL===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="5"|Regular Season !! colspan="4"|Post Season
|-
!Won!!Lost!!Ties!!Win %!!Finish!! Won !! Lost !! Win % !! Result
|-! style="background:#FDE910;"
![[1961 Houston Oilers season|HOU]]||[[1961 AFL season|1961]]*
||9||0||0||1.000||'''1st in AFL Eastern Division'''|| 1 || 0 || 1.000 || <Small>'''Beat [[1961 San Diego Chargers season|San Diego Chargers]] in [[1961 American Football League Championship Game|AFL Championship Game]]'''</Small>
|-
![[1962 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season|STL]]||[[1962 NFL season|1962]]
||4||9||1||.308||6th in NFL Eastern Conference|| - || - || - ||
|-
![[1963 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season|STL]]||[[1963 NFL season|1963]]
||9||5||0||.643||3rd in NFL Eastern Conference|| - || - || - ||
|-
![[1964 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season|STL]]||[[1964 NFL season|1964]]
||9||3||2||.750||2nd in NFL Eastern Conference|| - || - || - ||
|-
![[1965 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season|STL]]||[[1965 NFL season|1965]]
||5||9||0||.357||5th in NFL Eastern Conference|| - || - || - ||
|-
! colspan="2"|STL Total|| 27 || 26 || 3 || .509 |||| - || - || - ||
|-
![[1966 Houston Oilers season|HOU]]||[[1966 AFL season|1966]]
||3||11||0||.214||4th in AFL Western Division|| - || - || - ||
|- style="background:#fdd;"
![[1967 Houston Oilers season|HOU]]||[[1967 AFL season|1967]]
||9||4||1||.692||'''1st in AFL Eastern Division'''|| 0 || 1 || .000 || <Small>'''Lost to [[1967 Oakland Raiders season|Oakland Raiders]] in [[1967 American Football League Championship Game|AFL championship game]]'''</Small>
|-
![[1968 Houston Oilers season|HOU]]||[[1968 AFL season|1968]]
||7||7||0||.500||2nd in AFL Eastern Division|| - || - || - ||
|- style="background:#fdd;"
![[1969 Houston Oilers season|HOU]]||[[1969 AFL season|1969]]
||6||6||2||.500||'''2nd in AFL Eastern Division'''|| 0 || 1 || .000 || <small>'''Lost to [[1969 Oakland Raiders season|Oakland Raiders]] in [[1969 American Football League playoffs#Playoffs|Divisional Round]]'''</small>
|-
![[1970 Houston Oilers season|HOU]]||[[1970 NFL season|1970]]
||3||10||1||.231||4th in AFC Central|| - || - || - ||
|-
! colspan="2"|HOU Total|| 37 || 38 || 4 || .493 |||| - || - || - ||
|-
! colspan="2"|Total<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/LemmWa0.htm|title=Wally Lemm Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks – Pro-Football-Reference.com|website=Pro-Football-Reference|access-date=December 13, 2020}}</ref>|| 64 || 64 || 7 || .500 |||| 1 || 2 || .333 ||
|-
|}

*''Interim coach for last 9 games of regular season''


==See also==
==See also==
* [[List of American Football League players|Other American Football League coaches, players, and contributors]]
* [[List of American Football League players]]


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


{{navboxes|list=
{{Lake Forest Foresters men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{Lake Forest Foresters football coach navbox}}
{{Lake Forest Foresters football coach navbox}}
{{Montana State Bobcats football coach navbox}}
{{Montana State Bobcats football coach navbox}}
Line 31: Line 230:
{{1960 Houston Oilers}}
{{1960 Houston Oilers}}
{{1961 Houston Oilers}}
{{1961 Houston Oilers}}
}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemm, Wally}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemm, Wally}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:1988 deaths]]
[[Category:1988 deaths]]
[[Category:Basketball coaches from Illinois]]
[[Category:Chicago Cardinals coaches]]
[[Category:Chicago Cardinals coaches]]
[[Category:Houston Oilers coaches]]
[[Category:St. Louis Cardinals (football) coaches]]
[[Category:Carroll Pioneers football players]]
[[Category:Carroll Pioneers football coaches]]
[[Category:Carroll Pioneers football coaches]]
[[Category:Carroll Pioneers football players]]
[[Category:College men's basketball head coaches in the United States]]
[[Category:High school football coaches in Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Houston Oilers coaches]]
[[Category:Lake Forest Foresters football coaches]]
[[Category:Lake Forest Foresters football coaches]]
[[Category:Lake Forest Foresters men's basketball coaches]]
[[Category:Lake Forest Foresters men's basketball coaches]]
Line 45: Line 247:
[[Category:Montana State Bobcats men's basketball coaches]]
[[Category:Montana State Bobcats men's basketball coaches]]
[[Category:Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches]]
[[Category:Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches]]
[[Category:College men's basketball head coaches in the United States]]
[[Category:People from Lake Bluff, Illinois]]
[[Category:High school football coaches in the United States]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Lake County, Illinois]]
[[Category:American Football League champions]]
[[Category:St. Louis Cardinals (football) coaches]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Chicago]]
[[Category:St. Louis Cardinals (football) head coaches]]
[[Category:Houston Oilers head coaches]]

Latest revision as of 17:46, 25 April 2024

Wally Lemm
Lemm from the 1959 Forester
Biographical details
Born(1919-10-23)October 23, 1919
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedOctober 8, 1988(1988-10-08) (aged 68)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Playing career
Football
1938–1941Carroll (WI)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1945Notre Dame (assistant)
1946–1947Carroll (WI) (backfield)
1948Waukesha HS (WI)
1949–1951Lake Forest (backfield)
1952–1953Lake Forest
1954Montana State (assistant)
1955Montana State
1956Chicago Cardinals (DB)
1957Lake Forest
1959Chicago Cardinals (DB)
1960–1961Houston Oilers (AHC)
1961Houston Oilers (interim HC)
1962–1965St. Louis Cardinals
1966–1970Houston Oilers
Basketball
1949–1954Lake Forest
1954–1955Montana State
1958–1959Lake Forest
Head coaching record
Overall64–64–7 (AFL/NFL regular season)
21–10–2 (college football)
80–72 (college basketball)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Football
2 CCI (1952, 1957)
AFL (1961)

Walter Horner Lemm (October 23, 1919 – October 8, 1988) was an American football coach at the high school, collegiate and professional levels and achieved his greatest prominence as head coach of the American Football League's Houston Oilers and the National Football League's St. Louis Cardinals.

Early career[edit]

Lemm graduated from Carroll College, in Waukesha, Wisconsin, in 1942 after playing football for head coach John W. Breen. After service in World War II during the next two years, Lemm served as an assistant coach at the University of Notre Dame under Hugh Devore in 1945. Lemm returned to Carroll as an assistant coach with the school's football team the following year, then became a head coach for the first time, accepting the top job for Waukesha High School in 1948.

Coaching career[edit]

Following Lemm's one year at Waukesha, Carroll's former coach, Breen, took the head coaching position at Lake Forest College. Lemm served under his leadership for the next three years, while also working as the school's head basketball coach, then replaced Breen in 1952. During his two seasons, he compiled an 11–4–1 record before leaving to accept the head coach position at Montana State University. An 8–1 season in 1954 was followed the next year by a 4–4–1 campaign. On May 14, 1956, he reached the National Football League (NFL) when he accepted a defensive assistant position with the Chicago Cardinals.

Lemm spent just one season before resigning to again accept the head coaching position at Lake Forest. During the next two years, he nearly matched his previous stint at the school with an 11–5 record, winning District Coach of the Year accolades in 1957 from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). On February 21, 1959, he returned to an assistant's role with the Cardinals, and would remain at the professional level for the remainder of his career.

After again spending a single season with the Cardinals, Lemm resigned on January 12, 1960, to accept an assistant coaching position with the Houston Oilers of the seminal American Football League. During the first season of play, the Oilers captured the league's first-ever title, but Lemm resigned after the season, returning to Libertyville, Illinois to work in the sporting goods industry.

However, after a slow start to the 1961 season that saw the team with a 1–3–1 record, Oilers' head coach Lou Rymkus was fired. Lemm was offered the position by his former coach John Breen, the Oilers' Director of Player Personnel, and proceeded to lead the team to nine straight victories. The team then won its second straight title with a 10–3 win over the San Diego Chargers on December 24, 1961, and Lemm was named AFL Coach of the Year by both UPI and the Associated Press for his efforts.

After orally agreeing to a contract for the next season, Lemm instead resigned on February 22, 1962, to take the top spot with the Cardinals, citing the proximity of St. Louis to his home in Lake Bluff, Illinois. He replaced Pop Ivy at St. Louis, and Ivy replaced Lemm at Houston. After a 4–9–1 record in his first year, Lemm came close to capturing the NFL's Eastern Conference title with a 9–5 season in 1963 and a 9–3–2 mark the following year. After signing a contract with a huge pay increase, the Cardinals crashed in 1965 with a 5–9 mark, with Lemm seemingly having job security. However, after Lemm was asked to stay in St. Louis as a full-time coach, he resigned on January 10, 1966, again citing family considerations. Oddly, he then accepted the head coaching job with his former team in Houston 19 days later.

The Oilers struggled in 1966 with a 3–11 record, but bounced back in 1967 with a 9–4–1 record and a spot in the AFL Championship game. After a 40–7 thrashing at the hands of the Oakland Raiders, the Oilers again reached the postseason in 1969 compiling a mediocre 6–6–2 record and were again dismantled by the Raiders, 56–7, in the AFL's oddly constructed one year playoff system. For that season the first place team of the West played the second place team of the East and vice versa. The team's first year in the post-merger NFL, 1970, finished with a disastrous 3–10–1 mark. Following a 44–0 loss to his former team in St. Louis on November 1, 1970, Lemm announced he would be retiring at the conclusion of the year, this time citing health issues. Lemm's final game came on December 20 of that year, a 52–10 loss to the Oilers' Lone Star State rivals, the Dallas Cowboys.

Later life and death[edit]

Lemm died on October 8, 1988, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin after a college reunion.[1]

Head coaching record[edit]

College football[edit]

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Lake Forest Foresters (College Conference of Illinois) (1952–1953)
1952 Lake Forest 6–1–1 3–0–1 T–1st
1953 Lake Forest 5–3 4–1 2nd
Montana State Bobcats (Rocky Mountain Conference) (1955)
1955 Montana State 4–4–1 3–2–1 3rd
Montana State: 4–4–1 3–2–1
Lake Forest Foresters (College Conference of Illinois) (1957)
1957 Lake Forest 6–2 6–1 T–1st
Lake Forest: 17–6–1 13–2–1
Total: 21–10–2
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

AFL/NFL[edit]

Team Year Regular Season Post Season
Won Lost Ties Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
HOU 1961* 9 0 0 1.000 1st in AFL Eastern Division 1 0 1.000 Beat San Diego Chargers in AFL Championship Game
STL 1962 4 9 1 .308 6th in NFL Eastern Conference - - -
STL 1963 9 5 0 .643 3rd in NFL Eastern Conference - - -
STL 1964 9 3 2 .750 2nd in NFL Eastern Conference - - -
STL 1965 5 9 0 .357 5th in NFL Eastern Conference - - -
STL Total 27 26 3 .509 - - -
HOU 1966 3 11 0 .214 4th in AFL Western Division - - -
HOU 1967 9 4 1 .692 1st in AFL Eastern Division 0 1 .000 Lost to Oakland Raiders in AFL championship game
HOU 1968 7 7 0 .500 2nd in AFL Eastern Division - - -
HOU 1969 6 6 2 .500 2nd in AFL Eastern Division 0 1 .000 Lost to Oakland Raiders in Divisional Round
HOU 1970 3 10 1 .231 4th in AFC Central - - -
HOU Total 37 38 4 .493 - - -
Total[2] 64 64 7 .500 1 2 .333
  • Interim coach for last 9 games of regular season

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Former Houston coach dies". The Galveston Daily News. Galveston, Texas. Associated Press. October 10, 1988. p. 3. Retrieved September 19, 2016 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  2. ^ "Wally Lemm Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks – Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
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