Hall of Fame
Northland College is proud to recognize Bill Carnahan for his outstanding contributions as a member of the Northland College athletic staff. Bill served as assistant football coach (1968-75), head wrestling coach (1968-82), and director of athletics during his career at Northland.
Coach Carnahan’s greatest success came with his love of wrestling. He took a young program at Northland built it into a small college powerhouse. He took more than two dozen young men to the national tournaments and had a national champion in Hall of Famer Barry Casper ’74. He achieved more than 150 wrestling dual meet victories in his career. His 1977-78 team finished 15-1, dominating the Midwest. Under his tutelage, Northland wrestling teams took on all comers, regardless of size, classification, or affiliation. He often spurned the weaker schools, scheduling bigger and stronger meets each year to improve the level of competition for his own team.
One of the great personalities in the history of Northland College, Bill was instantly recognized upon entering a gym or walking onto a football field by the unique tenor of his voice, earning him the nickname “Foghorn”. He suffered no fools, nor foolish questions, but no one cared more for the success of his athletes than he. There was no place to hide from Bill if a referee blew a call or one of his athletes gave less than 100 percent. Bill was a proud U.S. Navy veteran of World War II and came to Northland in 1968 after achieving success coaching in high school, including stints at Dorchester, New Holstein, and here at Ashland High School. He served Northland as backfield coach in football, running a wishbone offense that produced two Hall of Fame running backs in the early 1970s.
Bill also took quiet pride in watching four of his own children attend Northland and star in Northland athletics. Two of his sons came through the football program, and one of his daughters, Deborah, was also inducted into the hall of fame for her basketball career.
