Leo Calland
Leo Blakely Calland was an American college football and college basketball player and coach who later became a San Diego city parks administrator. He was the head football coach at Whittier College the University of Idaho and San Diego State College compiling a career college football head coaching record record of For two seasons, Calland was also the head basketball coach at the University of Southern California, his alma mater, tallying a mark of from 1927 to 1929.
Early years
Born in Ohio, the son of Cory Lee Calland and poet Annice Calland, Calland moved with his family as a child to western Washington, where he attended school in a log cabin on Lopez Island, in the San Juan Islands near the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where all of the other students were Native Americans in [the United States|Native Americans]. He was an outstanding athlete at Broadway High School in Seattle, where he played football under coach Gus Henderson.Henderson became the head football coach at Trojans football|USC] in Los Angeles in 1919 [USC Trojans football team|1919], and Calland followed him south. He lettered as a guard for three seasons and as a senior was named both team captain and most inspirational player on USC's first Rose Bowl team. Calland was named Rose Bowl Game#Rose Bowl [Player of the Game Awards|player of the game] in the Trojans' victory over 1922 [Penn State Nittany Lions football team|Penn State] on New Year's Day, the first bowl game in the current namesake stadium, and also lettered in basketball at USC.
Coaching career
After graduating from USC in 1923, Calland became an assistant coach there, leading the Trojan freshman squads in football, basketball, and baseball. He left in 1925 to lead nearby Whittier College for two seasons in multiple sports, then returned to USC as head basketball coach in 1927. Calland posted a record over two seasons, winning the Pacific Coast Conference title in his first year with a mark. His career winning percentage remains the highest by a USC basketball coach. In these two seasons he was also an assistant football coach.In February 1929 [Idaho Vandals football team|1929], Calland was named head football coach and athletic director at the University of Idaho in Moscow, also a record in six seasons on the Palouse, but his overmatched Vandals were just in conference play, defeating only 1934 [Montana Grizzlies football team|Montana]. He resigned after the 1934 [Idaho Vandals football team|1934] then returned to southern California at San Diego State College, where he posted a record in seven seasons. His Aztecs won consecutive SCIAC championships, with players including John D. Butler, a future mayor of
Military career and later life
In his early forties, Calland entered the U.S. Navy during World War II, and served as a recreation officer at the 11th Naval District in San Diego. In 1945, he became director of San Diego's Department of Parks and Recreation; during his fifteen years in the post, he oversaw the development of Mission Bay Park and Torrey Pines Golf Course. Calland became managing director of the San Diego Hall of Champions in 1960 and remained in that position until retiring in 1977, and was himself inducted into the Hall in 1974.Death
Calland died at age 83 at the Veterans Administration Hospital in La Jolla. He was survived by his wife Sarah, two daughters and a son, and was buried in Fairhaven Cemetery in Santa Ana.Head coaching record
Additional sources
- Laurence, Robert P. "Leo Calland dies; grid star, coach." The San Diego Union, March 19, 1984, pp. B1-2.