Leo Blakely Calland (February 24, 1901 – March 17, 1984) was an American football and basketball player and coach who later became a San Diego city parks administrator.
After graduating from USC in 1923, Calland became an assistant coach there, leading the Trojan freshman squads in football, basketball, and baseball.[3] He left in 1925 to lead nearby Whittier College for two seasons in multiple sports, then returned to USC as head basketball coach in 1927. Calland posted a 38–10 record over two seasons, winning the Pacific Coast Conference title in his first year with a 22–4 (.846) mark. His .792 career winning percentage remains the highest by a USC basketball coach. In these two seasons he was also an assistant football coach.[2]
In February 1929, Calland was named head football coach and athletic director at the University of Idaho in Moscow, also in the PCC.[1][2][3][4][5][6]He compiled a 21–30 (.412) record in six seasons on the Palouse, but his overmatched Vandals were just 5–25 (.167) in conference play, defeating only Montana. He resigned after the 1934season,[5][7][8] then returned to southern California at San Diego State College, where he posted a 34–22–4 (.600) record in seven seasons. His Aztecs won consecutive SCIAC championships (1936, 1937), with players including John D. Butler, a future mayor of San Diego(1951–1955).
Military career and later life
In his early forties, Calland entered the U.S. Navy during World War II, and served as a recreation officer at the 11th Naval District in San Diego. In 1945, he became director of San Diego's Department of Parks and Recreation; during his fifteen years in the post, he oversaw the development of Mission Bay Park and Torrey Pines Golf Course. Calland became managing director of the San Diego Hall of Champions in 1960 and remained in that position until retiring in 1977,[9] and was himself inducted into the Hall in 1974.
Death
Calland died at age 83 at the Veterans Administration Hospital in La Jolla. He was survived by his wife Sarah, two daughters and a son, and was buried in Fairhaven Cemetery in Santa Ana.
