Leonard Raffensperger Leonard Raffensperger ( November 6 , 1903 – September 19 , 1974 ) was an American football and basketball player and coach . He served as the head football coach at the University of Iowa for two seasons in 1950 and 1951 , compiling a record of 5 – 10 – 3 . Raffensperger played football and basketball at University of Iowa and then served as a high school football coach in Iowa for 21 years before joining the Iowa Hawkeyes football staff as an assistant coach in 1948 . Playing career . Born in Victor , Iowa , Raffensperger did not play high school football , but he tried out for the football team at the University of Iowa and made the squad . He was a reserve lineman for coach Burt Ingwersen who did not see much playing time on the football field , though he did earn a letter with the Iowa basketball team as a sophomore in 1924 – 1925 . Before Iowa ' s homecoming football game against Illinois in 1925 , the Hawkeye team received a telegram from Ledrue Galloway , a talented black tackle from the 1924 team , who was fighting tuberculosis . Galloway ' s telegram said , " There will be twelve Iowa men on the field to beat Illinois . I am with you . " Things looked bleak at first , when Red Grange returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown . But Iowa fought back and delivered a 12 – 10 victory for their teammate Galloway , who died less than a year later . Raffensperger , a junior , suffered a career - ending knee injury in the game , and his playing career at Iowa was over . Coaching career . Raffensperger graduated from Iowa in 1927 and took a high school coaching job in Reinbeck , Iowa . His football teams posted a 20 – 7 – 6 record in four years from 1927 – 1930 . Waterloo East High School in Waterloo , Iowa hired Raffensperger in 1931 , and he spent the next 17 seasons there , compiling a 90 – 41 – 8 record . Iowa ' s football coach Eddie Anderson was granted a larger coaching staff after the 1947 season , and he used it to hire Raffensperger as the coach of his freshman team . Raffensperger served as an assistant to Anderson in this capacity for two seasons . At the conclusion of the 1949 football season , Anderson left Iowa for Holy Cross . Iowa fans seemed to want an Iowa graduate to head the football program after Anderson ' s departure . Although the search was not limited to Iowa graduates , many of the top candidates had Iowa ties , including Wesley Fry . However , Raffensperger was already on staff , so he had the inside track . Raffensperger signed a three year contract to become Iowa ' s 18th head football coach , beginning with the 1950 season . He was the second Iowa graduate to be named as Iowa ' s head coach , following John G . Griffith in 1909 . In 1950 , Iowa had a 3 – 5 – 1 record , upsetting Purdue and battling Notre Dame to a 14 – 14 tie . The following season , Iowa posted a 2 – 5 – 2 record and failed to win a Big Ten game . However , Iowa was led by fullback Bill Reichardt , who was named the Big Ten MVP in 1951 . Later life and death . Raffensperger still had one year left on his contract . Iowa athletic director Paul Brechler only wanted to make a coaching change if he could find a " top man " . He had targeted Forest Evashevski as that man . When Evashevski decided to take the Iowa job in 1952 , Raffensperger was offered full salary for the final year of his contract and another position in the Iowa athletic department . Raffensperger accepted the offer , and he worked for the Iowa athletic department for over a decade until he decided to retire . Raffensperger died of cancer in Iowa City , Iowa on September 19 , 1974 at age 70 .