Biopage

Saint Ambrose College: in Davenport, Iowa. Earned All-American honorable mention honors senior season while playing both tight-end and defensive end. Saint Ambrose played a Division 1-AA schedule back on those days. There were only 2 divisions back then, the big colleges and the small colleges. Voted Saint Ambrose athlete of the year his senior year in 1959. First person to be Inducted in to the Saint Ambose Hall of Fame in 1993.

NFL: 1960 and 1961: Coach Haege made it through 2 pre-seasons with the Boston Patriots of the old American Football League (now the New England Patriots) playing in a total of 4 pre-season games. In the 1961 season he signed a free agent contract with the Patriots, and he was the last player to get cut back when they only kept 3 linebackers and 35 players on the roster. Head coach for the Patriots was the legendary Lou Saban.

Coach Haege then signed with Saskatchwan and played linebacker for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL in 1963. Coach Haege got raving newspaper revues from the coaches in training camp for his aggressive, hard hitting, and versatile play leading up to a shoulder injury that ended his playing career during the regular season. .

Coach Haege has a reputation for taking losing football programs and making them in to winners everywhere he has coached. Coach Haege has coached at every level of the game of football, from little league to high school, to major college and the Arena Football League. His first 9 years as a head high school coach he had compiled a record of 55 wins,16 losses and two ties. This record includes coaching at 5 different high schools in 3 different states.

1963-1964:: After being the JV coach and assistant varsity coach in 1963 at Saint Ignace high school in Saint Ignace, Michigan coach Haege was promoted to his first head coaching job at Saint Ignace High school in 1964. Record: 6 wins 2 losses. Were 4 and 0 in the conference and conference champs. Art Haege also met and married Carol Haege that same year in 1964.

1967: Two Rivers, Wisconsin Record: 6 and 1 with 1 tie. Two Rivers had not won more then 2 games per season in the 10 years prior to coach Haege becoming their head coach. Coach Haege's first son Dan was born on Sept. 24th during that season. The 1967 season laid the foundation for the following season in 1968.

1968: Two Rivers, Wisconsin Record: 8 and 0 and conference champs. Coach Haege's second son Frank was born on Oct. 11th during that season. This is coach Haege's all time favorite team, and he says it was the the most disciplined team that he has ever coached. This team will always be known to the players as simply "the team."

Traverse City-Saint Francis in Traverse City, Michigan. Record: 6 and 2 with one tie and finished second in the conference, and led the conference in defense (fewest points given up). Saint Francis was only 3 and 6 the previous season in 1969 before coach Haege became their head coach. Art Haege was the coach who started the winning football tradition at Saint Francis High School. .

Virginia High School in Virginia, Minnesota. Coach Haege took a football program that had won only 3 games in 3 years, and he was 4 and 4 with 1 tie his first season in 1971. In 1972 Virginia was 6 and 3..Virginia was 5 and 0 in 1972 until their starting QB got hurt. Virginia then had back to back 8 and 1 seasons in 1973 and 1974. The only game Virginia lost in 1973 was to the 1973 State Champion Eveleth Golden Bears.

University of Wisconsin-Offensive line coach. Record: 3 and 7. Wisconsin beat Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois in 1969. By today's standards they would of probably made a bowl game because their non-conference schedule included then #1 Oklahoma, UCLA, and Syracuse. Not exactly like playing Lafyette College or the University of Buffalo for non-conference games like the Big 10 teams do nowdays. They also played the U of Michigan at Michigan, and Ohio State at Ohio State that year.

Hibbing Community College, Hibbing Minnesota. Head Coach. Record: 5 and 4 despite the college not even having a team the season before. Hibbing upset the then undefeated and conference champs (Mesabi community college) 7 to 3 that year on the last football game to ever be played at old Ewens Field in Virginia, Minnesota. That game showed coach Haege at his finest coaching that night, it was like the Ali-Foreman fight and Ali won. The greatest football game that I have ever seen!

Vermilion Community College in Ely, Minnesota. Offensive Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach. In 1986 Vermilion won their conference championship, and the Minnesota Community College State Championship for the first time in the school's history, finishing the season with a 12 and 1 record. The 1987 team were conference champs.

Head coach at Biwabik High School in Biwabik, Minnesota in 1980, and in 1981 and 1982 coached his two son's (Dan and Frank) combined 7th and 8th grade pony league team, the Britt Chiefs, and helped lead them to a 17 and 1 record in two seasons and to two pony league championships.

Defensive coordinator and offensive/defensive line coach for the Milwaukee Mustangs of the Arena Football League. Head coach was coaching legend Lou Saban, who hired coach Haege to be his Defensive Coordinator. Coach Saban was the head coach of the Boston Patriots of the American Football League(now the NFL) when coach Haege played for them. Coach Haege was also the interm head coach for the Milwaukee Mustangs for the second half of the season.

Defensive Coordinator and Player Personel Director for the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League for all 6 seasons of their existence. Kurt Warner, now QB for the Arizona Cardinals,,played for the Barnstormers in 1995, 1996, and 1997 before playing in NFL Europe for a season and then signing with the Saint Louis Rams- leading them to 2 super bowls, and becoming a 2 time NFL mvp as well as Super Bowl MVP in 1999.

Coach Haege has spoken at numerous high school and college football clinics, including being one of the featured speakers at Jim Mcnally's Cincinatti Bengals coaching clinic in 1992. Jim Mcnally is recognized as being one of the very best offensive line coaches in the NFL.

Coach Haege has been named conference coach of the year in 3 different states, and he has won conference championships in 3 different states as a head high school and junior college coach. A sports writer for the Milwaukee Sentinel said Coach Haege was possibly "the best high school coach in the state of Wisconsin" in 1968.

Coach Haege also ran a QB and recievers camp with the long time offensive coordinator at BYU, Roger French, in 1986.

Coach Haege helped lead QB Kurt Warner and the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League to 2 Arenabowl championship games in 1996 and 1997.

Coach Haege started the youth pony league football program in Virginia, Minnesota in the 1970's and has devoted his life to coaching football. Coach Haege always took great pride in making losing football programs in to winning and respected football program everywhere that he had coached.

Coach Haege will always be remembered as a football coach who took great pride in taking a group of individuals, and making them in to a winning team.