Hall of Fame
Jon Kohl played football and threw the shot, discus and javelin in track at Coe. But football was his real love. He made the varsity team as a freshman and played tackle on both offense and defense for four years. On defense, he led Coe in tackles every year---sometimes making as many as 30 in a game. On offense, he was an unbeatable blocker. He was so adept at blocking I never lost a yard running behind him. He was an intense, strong, and tough member of the team. In one two-year stretch, he missed only three plays when he went to the sidelines to set a broken nose or dislocated shoulder by himself, without going to the team doctor. In his junior year Coe and St. Olaf were both undefeated going into the season's final game. Coe trailed 14 to 7 at the half. Then Jon intercepted a pass that turned the momentum in Coe's favor. Coe won 28 to 14 and finished the season as undefeated conference champions. Jon was named to the Little All-American Team that year, an honor added to three All-Midwest Athletic Conference selections. For nearly 40 years Jon taught and coached at the junior high school level in Jesup, Iowa and at Cedar Rapids McKinley and Linn-Mar. It's a pleasure for me to present for induction into the Kohawk Athletic Hall of Fame a superb football player, a gentleman who has devoted his career to teaching and coaching, and my favorite blocker, Jon Kohl.
