LINCOLN, Neb. – Nebraska Wesleyan University lost a legend when former coach Harold Chaffee passed away at the age of 94 on Oct. 6, 2020.
Coach Chaffee influenced so many student athletes during his time at Nebraska Wesleyan serving several different roles from the time he arrived in 1967 until even after his retirement.
Chaffee was the Head Football Coach from 1969-81, winning the NIAC Championship in 1976 and racking up 55 total victories. He was an assistant track & field coach from 1969-79, then became the head cross country and track & field coach from 1980-85. He led NWU to the 1984 NIAC cross country championship and won track & field conference titles in 1985.
Serving as the men's golf coach from 1967-78, his teams captured five NIAC titles and finished in the top 20 at the NCAA III Tournament three times. He was head tennis coach from 1967-71 and after his retirement he became the head women's golf coach from 1992-95.
Coach Chaffee filled the role of Nebraska Wesleyan Athletic Director from 1976-82. If there was a job to be done at Nebraska Wesleyan, Coach Chaffee took it on. During the stretch of time from 1969-71, amazingly he was head football coach, assistant track coach, head golf coach, head tennis coach, taught a full schedule of classes each semester and still found time to referee high school football and basketball games.
In 2003, Nebraska Wesleyan named the practice field north of the Weary Center the Harold G. Chaffee field so that he will forever be a part of NWU Athletics. He was inducted into the NWU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990 as a Spirit of the Plainsmen winner.
Statement from NWU Athletic Director Ira Zeff.
"Today, Nebraska Wesleyan lost a true legend with the passing of Harold Chaffee.
Coach Chaffee was a role model for all of us on how to live life to its fullest. The one thing for me that sticks out the most was how proud he was of NWU and the accomplishments of our student-athletes athletically, in the classroom and their success after graduation. I will truly miss his smile when he was sharing a story about a former athlete and he was always telling a story."
Statement from current NWU Head Track & Field Coach Ted Bulling.
"Harold Chaffee was many things to me. He was my head football coach and assistant track coach while an athlete at Nebraska Wesleyan and later served as a mentor to me when I was a young coach. Besides being a good X's and O's coach, there was never any doubt that Coach Chaffee cared deeply about his athletes and always had his priorities in order. I remember one time when I was in my first years as our head track & field coach and was probably spending too much time away from home focused on the job. Coach Chaffee called me aside one day and told me that while our program was doing well, to never forget that the #1 priority has to be my family. I never forgot him saying that to me and am grateful to have had Coach Chaffee in my life."
