William 'Pete' Leaness

Former Temple University men's coach Dr. William "Pete" Leaness has been named the sole member of the 2005 class to be inducted into the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame.

Leaness, who passed away in 1972, will be inducted into the Hall of Fame during the annual NSCAA Awards Dinner, which will be held on Friday, January 14, 2005, in conjunction with the NSCAA Convention in Baltimore, Md. He will be formally enshrined in the NSCAA exhibit at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, NY, during Big 3 Weekend activities next August.

A chiropodist by trade, Leaness was a part-time coach for Temple, but his results were of the full-time variety. During a tenure that ran from 1930 to 1970, he led the Owls to a total of 245 wins against only 97 losses and 36 ties, an outstanding .699 winning percentage. The Owls won national championships in 1951 and 1953 and earned three invitations to the NCAA playoffs (1966-68). He was inducted into the Temple Hall of Fame in 1971.

A native of West Philadelphia, he was named Temple's first soccer All-America in 1929, and his players added to that list. All told, he developed 36 All-Americas during his career, including the likes of Walter Bahr, the former Penn State coach who was credited with the assist on the game's only goal when the United States defeated England in the 1950 World Cup, and the late Walt Chyzowych, a former U.S. National Team coach who played an important role in developing soccer coaching education in the U.S. Unlike most part-time coaches of that era, the Temple team was his only connection to soccer.

Born on July 5, 1904, Leaness was also an outstanding baseball player. As a third baseman for Temple, he batted over .500 and was named to the first college baseball all-star team. That group traveled to Cuba, where Leaness hit a home run that led to a 3-2 victory.