Norman G. Wann | |
Birth Date: | 8 July 1882 |
Birth Place: | Silverwood, Indiana, U.S. |
Death Place: | Eagle Harbor Township, Michigan, U.S. |
Player Sport1: | Football |
Player Team2: | Earlham |
Player Positions: | Lineman |
Coach Sport1: | Football |
Coach Years2: | 1908–1909 |
Coach Team2: | Ottawa |
Coach Years3: | 1915–1917 |
Coach Team3: | Millikin |
Coach Years4: | 1919–1922 |
Coach Team4: | Millikin |
Coach Years5: | 1923–1924 |
Coach Team5: | Earlham |
Coach Years6: | 1925 |
Coach Team6: | Muncie Normal (assistant) |
Coach Years7: | 1926–1927 |
Coach Team7: | Muncie Normal / Ball Teachers |
Coach Years8: | 1929–1931 |
Coach Team8: | Detroit City College |
Coach Sport9: | Basketball |
Coach Years10: | 1908–1910 |
Coach Team10: | Ottawa |
Coach Years11: | 1915–1918 |
Coach Team11: | Millikin |
Coach Years12: | 1919–1923 |
Coach Team12: | Millikin |
Coach Years13: | 1923–1925 |
Coach Team13: | Earlham |
Coach Sport14: | Baseball |
Coach Years15: | 1909–1910 |
Coach Team15: | Ottawa |
Coach Years16: | 1916–1918 |
Coach Team16: | Millikin |
Coach Years17: | 1920–1921 |
Coach Team17: | Millikin |
Coach Years18: | 1927 |
Coach Team18: | Ball Teachers |
Coach Sport19: | Tennis |
Coach Years20: | 1932–1953 |
Coach Team20: | Detroit City College / Wayne |
Overall Record: | 74–40–10 (football) 128–79 (basketball) 43–39 (baseball) |
Championships: | Football 3 IIAC (1916, 1919, 1920) 1 MWC (1922) |
Norman Gillespie "Happy" Wann (July 8, 1882 – July 23, 1957) was an American college football player, track athlete, coach of multiple sports, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kansas (1908–1909), Millikin College (1915–1917, 1919–1922), Earlham College (1923–1924), Ball Teachers College, Eastern Division, Indiana State Normal School—now Ball State University (1926–1927), and the College of the City of Detroit—now Wayne State University (1929–1931), compiling a career college football head coaching record of 74–40–10. Wann was also the head basketball coach at Ottawa (1908–1910), Millikin (1915–1918, 1919–1923), and Earlham (1923–1925), amassing a career college basketball record of 128–79. In addition, he was the head baseball coach at Ottawa (1909–1910), Millikin (1916–1918, 1920–1921), Ball Teachers College (1927), tallying a career college baseball mark of 43–39.
Wann attended Earlham College, where he played football as a lineman and ran track. He left campus in 1908 one credit short of his BBS degree, which he did not receive until 1922. Earlham served with the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe during World War I. In 1929, he earned a master's degree in physical education from the University of Wisconsin. After his retirement from coaching, he moved to Eagle Harbor Township, Michigan. He died there on July 23, 1957.[1] Three years earlier, in 1954, he was inducted into Earlham's Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1986, he was inducted into the Wayne State University Athletics Hall of Fame.[2]