Griz assistant grid coach retires
8/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
University of Montana football Assistant Head Coach Fred von Appen (AH-pen) has retired, announced second-year Grizzly Head Coach Bobby Hauck. Von Appen was beginning his second year at Montana and 35th season in coaching at the professional and collegiate levels.
"It's a blow to our program to lose somebody with Fred von Appen's experience and expertise," Hauck said. "He will be missed on the field, and on a personal note, he's been a great friend. I will miss working with him on a daily basis, as will our other coaches. He is a wealth of football knowledge and a great guy to be around, but he just felt he could not go through the grind of the football season again, and that it was time to retire."
Von Appen was most recently (2001) an assistant in the National Football League for the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings (2000). Prior to those one-year stints he spent 11 seasons at the college level, most recently as the head coach at the University of Hawaii from 1996-98. Prior to coaching at Hawaii he was the defensive line coach at Colorado (1995).
From 1992-94, von Appen was the defensive coordinator at Stanford for Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh. It was his third stint as an assistant coach under Walsh (Stanford, 1977-78; San Francisco 49ers, 1983-88; and Stanford, 1992-94).
He has also coached at Pittsburgh, Arkansas, UCLA, Virginia Tech, and Oregon. While at Oregon he was the defensive coordinator for current Griz athletic director Don Read.
Hauck said he hoped to name a replacement for von Appen in the next few days. Griz players report for 2004 fall camp on Monday, August 9 and practice starts on August 11.
"It's a blow to our program to lose somebody with Fred von Appen's experience and expertise," Hauck said. "He will be missed on the field, and on a personal note, he's been a great friend. I will miss working with him on a daily basis, as will our other coaches. He is a wealth of football knowledge and a great guy to be around, but he just felt he could not go through the grind of the football season again, and that it was time to retire."
Von Appen was most recently (2001) an assistant in the National Football League for the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings (2000). Prior to those one-year stints he spent 11 seasons at the college level, most recently as the head coach at the University of Hawaii from 1996-98. Prior to coaching at Hawaii he was the defensive line coach at Colorado (1995).
From 1992-94, von Appen was the defensive coordinator at Stanford for Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh. It was his third stint as an assistant coach under Walsh (Stanford, 1977-78; San Francisco 49ers, 1983-88; and Stanford, 1992-94).
He has also coached at Pittsburgh, Arkansas, UCLA, Virginia Tech, and Oregon. While at Oregon he was the defensive coordinator for current Griz athletic director Don Read.
Hauck said he hoped to name a replacement for von Appen in the next few days. Griz players report for 2004 fall camp on Monday, August 9 and practice starts on August 11.
Thursday, June 11
Thursday, June 04
Friday, May 01
Monday, March 30
