Missouri State

JAN STAHLE
Football, 1976-78
Soccer Coach, 1987-89
Inducted February 16, 2002

Jan Stahle came to Springfield from Malmoe, Sweden, as a foreign exchange student at Greenwood High School. After his senior year at Greenwood, he joined the Missouri State football program, and, in three seasons as the placekicker for the Bears of coach Rich Johanningmeier, Stahle wrote his name in numerous places in the MSU grid record book. He led the squad in scoring as a sophomore and junior and finished just behind running back John Gianini in total points as a senior on the Bears & rsquo; final MIAA championship club in 1978. Missouri State posted a 6-3-1 mark in 1977 and went undefeated at 6-0 to the league title in an overall 8-3 campaign in 1978. Stahle finished with 170 career points, now fifth on the MSU all-time kick scoring list, and he currently ranks fifth with 89 PAT conversions and fourth with 27 field goals. He shares the school record for most conversions in a game, and was the placekicker on the all-MIAA first team as a senior in 1978. Stahle signed as a free agent with the NFL Houston Oilers after his MSU playing days, and then got involved in the coaching profession. He returned to the MSU campus as the coach of the still-young men’s soccer program in 1987, and, in three seasons, guided the Bears to a 32-30-2 record, including a 14-8 season in 1989 in his final year with the program. He remained on the MSU campus to coach the highly-successful soccer program at his prep alma mater, Greenwood High School.