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- Year:
- 1971-1981
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- Sports Played:
- Wrestling Head Coach; Football Assistant Coach
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- Induction Year:
- 2010
Bio
In just a 10-year period, Vern Wagner left a lifetime of memories and made lifelong friends around the Orange Coast College campus. Vern started his professional career at Morningside High School, where he taught physical education and was the head wrestling coach and assistant football coach from 1960–1964. After stints at Palos Verdes High School (1964–68) and Fountain Valley High School (1968–71), Vern joined Orange Coast College, where he worked as a physical education instructor as well as head wrestling coach and assistant football coach. In eight of those 10 years, Vern compiled a 69–55–4 record, guiding the Pirates to the South Coast Conference championship as well as a sixth-place finish in the state. With the OCC football program, Vern was part of Dick Tucker’s coaching staff that helped guide the Pirates to the 1975 national championship.
After his Coast career, Vern moved to the administration side of athletics and worked at several four-year universities, including UC Irvine (1981–84), San Jose State (1984–87), and the University of Washington (1987–94). From there, Vern was the director of the Seattle Kingdome, which was the home to the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Mariners for several years. In addition to running his 75-person crew for those teams, he also coordinated such events as the 1995 Final Four, the Seattle Home Show, International Auto Show, Seattle Boat Show, and helped run big-name concerts such as the Rolling Stones and U2.
In April of 1999, Vern was diagnosed with leukemia and on July 27, 2000, he passed away in Seattle at the age of 63. In August, 2000, the King County Executive and County Council Members announced the dedication of seven soccer fields in Vern’s name at Marymoor Park in Redmond, WA.
