Larry Siemering Lawrence Edwin Siemering ( November 24 , 1910 – July 27 , 2009 ) was an American football player and coach . He played college football at the University of San Francisco and professionally in the NFL with the Boston Redskins in 1935 and 1936 . Siemering served as the head football coach at the University of the Pacific in Stockton , California from 1947 to 1951 and at Arizona State University in 1951 , compiling a career college football coached record of 41 – 8 – 4 . He also was the head coach of the Canadian Football League ' s Calgary Stampeders in 1954 . In all , Siemering ' s football career as a player and coach lasted more than forty years . At the time of his death , he was the oldest surviving professional football player at 98 years of age . Early life . Siemering was born in San Francisco and was raised in Lodi , California , where he attended and played high school football at Lodi High School . During his senior season as a center , the Lodi Flames went undefeated . He graduated in 1928 . Also during this time , Siemering semi - pro baseball for the Sacramento Stallions . Playing career . College . After high school , Siemering accepted a baseball scholarship from the University of San Francisco , where he then also played football . He graduated in 1935 . Professional . After his college career , Siemering played center in the National Football League for the Boston Redskins in 1935 and 1936 ; the Redskins moved to Washington D . C . in 1937 . During his tenure there , he played in the 1936 NFL Championship , a loss to the Green Bay Packers . Coaching career . High school . After his playing career , Siemering started his coaching career as a high school football coach at Manteca High School and Stockton High School in the San Joaquin Valley . In 1943 , his Stockton team went undefeated . Siemering then came back to high school coaching in 1956 at Santa Cruz High School , where he went 9 – 0 in 1958 . College . Siemering started his college coaching career as an assistant coach at the University of the Pacific in Stockton , California , under head coach Amos Alonzo Stagg . Stagg retired after the 1946 season , and Siemering took over as head coach in 1947 . During his first season as coach , the Tigers went 10 – 1 , the lone loss against Santa Clara , 21 – 20 . At the end of the regular season , the Tigers played in the Raisin Bowl and beat the Wichita , 28 – 14 . Siemering had another winning record in 1948 and went 7 – 3 – 1 . However , he is best known for his 1949 Pacific team who went an undefeated 11 – 0 . The team came close to losing only once in 1949 , when it defeated the San Francisco in the first game of the season , 7 – 6 . The Tigers outscored their opponents 575 – 66 , led the nation in offense , and were ranked as high as tenth in the Associated Press poll . During the season , the Tigers scored 75 points or more three times ; 75 – 20 over Portland , 88 – 0 over Cal Poly , and 75 – 0 over the Hawaii . The team was the 15th college team in history to score 500 or more points in a single season . During his four - year tenure at Pacific , Siemering went 35 – 5 – 3 and with a . 875 winning percentage , was the winningest coach in Pacific ' s history . He then coached at Arizona State University in 1951 , where he went 6 – 3 – 1 . Despite the winning record , he was fired after using an ineligible player who used a fake name . After a brief second stint in high school teaching , Siemering then became the inaugural head coach of Cabrillo College , a two - year community college in Aptos , California . He coached there from 1959 to 1965 . While at Cabrillo , he also coached the Seahawks ' golf team until 1976 . Siemering was inducted into the first class of the University of Pacific Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982 . His 1947 and 1949 teams were inducted later . Professional . In 1953 , Siemering was an offensive line coach for the Washington Redskins , under head coach Curly Lambeau . He then left the NFL in 1954 to become the head coach of the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League . Personal . Siemering was married to Sophie Siemering , who died in 2001 . On July 27 , 2009 , he died at Watsonville Community Hospital after a fall at his Watsonville , California home .