Quick Facts
Biography
Wallace Joe "Chief" Newman (c. 1901 – November 6, 1985) was an American football and baseball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Whittier College in Whittier, California from 1929 to 1950, compiling a record of 102–66–14. Newman also coached basketball and baseball at Whittier and was the school's athletic director.
Newman played football and baseball at the University of Southern California (USC). He played the 1923 Rose Bowl, the first bowl game appearance for the USC Trojans. Newman coached at Covina High School in Covina, California for four years before he was hired at Whittier. Newman was Native American and an enrolled member of the La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians and the Mission Creek Band of Mission Indians which he led as president from 1957 until shortly before termination. In the early 1930s, he coached Richard Nixon, who was a reserve player for Whittier and went on to become president of the United States.
Newman died on November 6, 1985, at the age of 84.
Head coaching record
College football
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whittier Poets (Southern California Conference / Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) | |||||||||
| 1929 | Whittier | 4–4–1 | 3–2–1 | 3rd | |||||
| 1930 | Whittier | 5–3–1 | 4–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1931 | Whittier | 6–3 | 4–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1932 | Whittier | 10–1 | 5–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1933 | Whittier | 4–4–2 | 3–1–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1934 | Whittier | 7–2–1 | 5–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1935 | Whittier | 5–5 | 4–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1936 | Whittier | 5–5 | 3–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1937 | Whittier | 2–6–2 | 2–2–1 | 4th | |||||
| 1938 | Whittier | 7–1–2 | 2–0–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1939 | Whittier | 8–2–1 | 3–0–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1940 | Whittier | 2–6–1 | 1–2–1 | 4th | |||||
| 1941 | Whittier | 4–3–1 | 3–0–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1942 | Whittier | 5–4 | 2–1 | T–1st | |||||
| 1943 | No team—World War II | ||||||||
| 1944 | No team—World War II | ||||||||
| 1945 | No team—World War II | ||||||||
| 1946 | Whittier | 3–5–1 | 2–1–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1947 | Whittier | 2–6–1 | 1–2–1 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1948 | Whittier | 6–4 | 2–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1949 | Whittier | 8–1 | 4–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1950 | Whittier | 9–1 | 3–1 | T–1st | W Aztec Bowl | ||||
| Whittier: | 102–66–14 | 56–20–11 | |||||||
| Total: | 102–66–14 | ||||||||