A legendary name on the University of Oregon camps, Len Casanova (June 12, 1905 – September 30, 2002) gave so much to Duck athletics over his 20 seasons as head football coach and athletic director.
He left Oregon as the school’s winningest coach, including a 1958 Rose Bowl appearance, until surpassed by Rich Brooks in 1994. “Cas” coached two future Hall of Famers, Mel Renfro and Dave Wilcox, and helped assistants George Seifert, John McKay, and John Robinson start their own illustrious coaching careers. His Duck coaching record was 82-73-8 from 1951-1966. In 1964, he served as president of the American Football Coaches Association.
After retiring from coaching in 1966, he served as the athletic director at Oregon from 1967-1970 during which time Autzen Stadium was completed. From 1969 to 1973, he served on the NCAA football rules committee.
Before coming to Eugene, Len Casanova served as the head football coach at Santa Clara University (1946-1949), where he played from 1923-1926, the University of Pittsburgh (1950). Casanova was also the head baseball coach at Santa Clara from 1940-1942.
His final career football coaching record is 104-94-11.
Len Casanova was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1977 and received the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award in 1990. Cas is also a member of the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame and the athletic office building in Eugene is named in his honor. That was the first time the Oregon State Board of Higher Education had ever named a building after a living person.