Virgil
"Joe" Lindahl
Lindahl,
a 1941 graduate of Wayne State, is also a member of the
NAIA Hall of Fame. At the time of his induction, he was
the athletic director of the University of Northern Colorado,
where he was also the head football coach when the school
was known as Colorado State College.
Lindahl
was an outstanding football player in his years at WSC.
He was a three-time Associated Press "Little All-American"
as an end for WSC and was a member of the All-Nebraska College
football team all four years. Lindahl lettered four years
in both football and track at Wayne State, and was named
to the Helms Football Hall of Fame in 1961 and the Nebraska
Football Hall of Fame in 1973.
After
graduating from what was then Wayne Teachers College, Lindahl
entered the Army Air Force. Leaving the service in 1945,
he played one year of professional football for the New
York Giants before beginning his coaching career at Geneva,
Neb., High School.
Lindahl
earned a master's degree in health and physical education
at Greeley in 1949, moved to Columbus High School in 1949
and to Cozad High in 1952. He began coaching at Colorado
State College as a line coach in 1953 and served as head
coach beginning in 1954. He received a Director's Degree
in Physical Education from Indiana University in 1964 and
became athletic director at UNC in 1966.
Lindahl
was the first person inducted into the WSC Athletics Hall
of Fame, November 4, 1978.
