Wally Lemm Wally Lemm ( October 23 , 1919 – October 2 , 1988 ) was a football coach at the high school , collegiate and professional levels and achieved his greatest prominence as head coach of the American Football League ' s Houston Oilers and the National Football League ' s St . Louis Cardinals ( football ) . Lemm graduated from Carroll College ( Wisconsin ) in 1942 playing football for head coach John Breen at running back . After service in World War II during the next two years , Lemm then served as an assistant coach at the University of Notre Dame under Hugh Devore in 1945 . Lemm returned to Carroll as an assistant coach with the school ' s football team the following year , then became a head coach for the first time , accepting the top job for Waukesha High School , in Wisconsin , in 1948 . Following Lemm ' s one year at Waukesha , Carroll ' s former coach , Breen , took the head coaching position at Lake Forest College . Lemm served under his leadership for the next three years , while also working as the school ' s head basketball coach , then replaced Breen in 1952 . During his two seasons , he compiled an 11 - 4 - 1 record before leaving to accept the head coach position at Montana State University . An 8 - 1 season in 1954 was followed the next year by a 4 - 4 - 1 campaign . On May 14 , 1956 , he reached the NFL when he accepted a defensive assistant position with the Chicago Cardinals . Lemm spent just one season before resigning to again accept the head coaching position at Lake Forest . During the next two years , he nearly matched his previous stint at the school with an 11 - 5 record , winning District Coach of the Year accolades in 1957 from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics ( NAIA ) . On February 21 , 1959 , he returned to an assistant ' s role with the Cardinals , and would remain at the professional level for the remainder of his career . After again spending a single season with the Cardinals , Lemm resigned on January 12 , 1960 to accept an assistant coaching position with the Houston Oilers of the seminal American Football League . During the first season of play , the Oilers captured the league ' s first - ever title , but Lemm resigned after the season , returning to Libertyville , Illinois to work in the sporting goods industry . However , after a slow start to the 1961 season that saw the team with a 1 - 3 - 1 record , Oilers ' head coach Lou Rymkus was fired . Lemm was offered the position by his former coach John Breen , the Oilers ' Director of Player Personnel , and proceeded to lead the team to nine straight victories . The team then won its second straight title with a 10 - 3 win over the San Diego Chargers on December 24 , 1961 , and Lemm was named AFL Coach of the Year for his efforts . After orally agreeing to a contract for the next season , Lemm instead resigned on February 22 , 1962 to take the top spot with the Cardinals , citing the proximity of St . Louis to his home in Lake Bluff , Illinois . He replaced Pop Ivy at St . Louis , and Ivy replaced Lemm at Houston ! After a 4 - 9 - 1 record in his first year , Lemm came close to capturing the NFL ' s Eastern Conference title with a 9 - 5 season in 1963 and a 9 - 3 - 2 mark the following year . After signing a contract with a huge pay increase , the Cardinals crashed in 1965 with a 5 - 9 mark , with Lemm seemingly having job security . However , after Lemm was asked to stay in St . Louis as a full - time coach , he resigned on January 10 , 1966 , again citing family considerations . Oddly , he then accepted the head coaching job with his former team in Houston 19 days later . The Oilers struggled in 1966 with a 3 - 11 record , but bounced back in 1967 with a 9 - 4 - 1 record and a spot in the AFL Championship game . After a 40 - 7 thrashing at the hands of the Oakland Raiders , the Oilers again reached the postseason in 1969 compiling a mediocre 6 - 6 - 2 record and were again dismantled by the Raiders , 56 - 7 , in the AFL ' s oddly constructed one year playoff system . For that season the first place team of the West played the second place team of the East and vice versa . The team ' s first year in the post - merger NFL , 1970 , finished with a disastrous 3 - 10 - 1 mark . Following a 44 - 0 loss to his former team in St . Louis on November 1 , 1970 , Lemm announced he would be retiring at the conclusion of the year , this time citing health issues . Lemm ' s final game came on December 20 of that year , a 52 - 10 loss to the Oilers ' Lone Star State rivals , the Dallas Cowboys . Lemm stayed off the sidelines for the final 18 years of his life , dying on October 2 , 1988 , just three weeks short of his 69th birthday .