John Niemiec

John Niemiec at Notre Dame- from Bellaire High School Archives

John Niemiec

Biographical details
Born	March 21, 1901 Bellaire, Ohio, U.S.[1]
Died	June 16, 1976 (aged 75)
Playing career
1926–1928	Notre Dame
Position(s)	Halfback[1]
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1934–1937	Columbia (IA)
Head coaching record
Overall	11–17–2 (college)

John Niemiec (March 21, 1901 – June 16, 1976)^[2] was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Columbia College—now known as Loras College—in Dubuque, Iowa from 1934 to 1937. Niemiec played college football at the University of Notre Dame from 1926 to 1928. In the first-ever meeting with USC, Niemiec caught a game-winning touchdown pass from 23-yards out with under 2 minutes left. He also threw the famous touchdown pass to Johnny O'Brien in the "Win One for the Gipper" game over top-ranked Army at Yankee Stadium.^[3] He led the Fighting Irish in passing in 1927 and 1928.^[4] Niemiec also coached at Steubenville High School in Steubenville, Ohio and Bellaire High School in his home town of Bellaire, Ohio. In 1940, Niemiec's Big Reds defeated Woody Hayes' New Philadelphia Quakers 54-7 in Hayes's largest lost of his coaching career. He died on June 16, 1976, at the age of 75.^[5] He is a member of the Bellaire High School Hall of Fame.

Head coaching record

College

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs
Columbia Duhawks (Iowa Conference) (1934–1937)
1934	Columbia	1–4–1	1–3–1	11th
1935	Columbia	3–4	2–3	7th
1934	Columbia	3–4	1–4	9th
1937	Columbia	4–5–1	2–3–1	8th
Columbia:		11–17–2	6–13–2
Total:		11–17–2

References

1. http://archives.nd.edu/Football/Football-1927.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
2. "John Niemiec". Fold3. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
3. "All-Time Roster" (PDF). Notre Dame Fighting Irish football. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
4. Steele, Michael R. (2002). The Fighting Irish Football Encyclopedia. Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN 9781582612911. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
5. Doyle, Joe (June 29, 1978). "According to Doyle; Point is easier". South Bend Tribune. South Bend, Indiana. p. 18. Retrieved March 20, 2019 – via Newspapers.com .