| Otto Kneidinger | |
| Birth Date: | 17 May 1933 |
| Birth Place: | Altoona, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Altoona, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Player Years1: | 1951–1955 |
| Player Team1: | Penn State |
| Player Positions: | Tackle |
| Coach Years1: | 1956–1957 |
| Coach Team1: | Tyrone Area HS (PA) (assistant) |
| Coach Years2: | 1958–1962 |
| Coach Team2: | York Suburban HS (PA) |
| Coach Years3: | 1963 |
| Coach Team3: | Meadville HS (PA) |
| Coach Years4: | 1964–1970 |
| Coach Team4: | Lafayette (assistant) |
| Coach Years5: | 1971–1978 |
| Coach Team5: | Penn (DC) |
| Coach Years6: | 1979–1983 |
| Coach Team6: | West Chester |
| Coach Years7: | 1984–1989 |
| Coach Team7: | Rutgers (DC/OLB) |
| Coach Years8: | 1990–1996 |
| Coach Team8: | Delaware (LB) |
| Overall Record: | 30–21–1 (college) 35–12–1 (high school) |
| Awards: | First-team All-Eastern (1954) |
Otto Louis Kneidinger Jr. (May 17, 1933 – May 22, 2001) was an American football player and coach.[1] He served as the head football coach at West Chester University of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1983, compiling a record of 30–21–1. Following his collegiate career at Pennsylvania State University, he was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the 1955 NFL draft.[2]
Kneidinger began his coaching career in 1956 as an assistant at Tyrone Area High School in Tyrone, Pennsylvania. Two years later, he became the head football coach at York Suburban Senior High School in Spring Garden Township, Pennsylvania, where he led his teams to a record of 32–6–1 in five seasons, from 1958 to 1962. His 1961 and 1962 teams both went undefeated and won Laurel Conference titles. Kneidinger was the head football coach at Meadville Area Senior High School in Meadville, Pennsylvania, for one season, in 1963, tallying a mark of 3–6.
In 1964, Kneidinger was hired as freshman football coach at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.[3] He remained an assistant at Lafayette until moving to the University of Pennsylvania in 1971 when Harry Gamble was hired as head coach for the Penn Quakers. Kneidinger served as Penn's defensive coordinator for eight seasons under Gamble before he was hired as the head football coach at West Chester University of Pennsylvania in 1979.[4] [5]
Kneidinger left West Chester in 1984 to become the defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach at Rutgers University.[6] [7]
Kneidinger died from cancer-related causes, on May 22, 2001, in Altoona, Pennsylvania.[8] [9]