skip navigation

Sponsors

Partners

Forrest Perkins - Fort Atkinson / Merrill / Racine Park / UW-Whitewater

03/01/1985, 12:00am CST
By Wisconsin Sports Network

Born November 13, 1920, in Dodgeville, Wisconsin

Graduate of Dodgeville High School, University of Wisconsin-Platteville, B.S., 1944, University of Wisconsin-Madison, M.S., 1950

Coached football at:

Fort Atkinson High School 1945-49;
Merrill High School 1950-54;
Racine Park High School 1955; and
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 1956-84.
His overall record was238 wins, 122 losses, 16 ties, and twelve conference championships.

Forrest coached football for forty years. His teams won 238 games at both the high school and college levels. In his 29 years at UW-Whitewater, Forrest’s teams had just two losing seasons. UW-Whitewater's record during his tenure was 187-89-7 with a .673 winning percentage, including 11 Wisconsin State University Conference Championships. He has coached 15 All-Americans.

As a high school athlete Forrest earned 13 letters. He played intercollegiate football, basketball, and baseball at UW-Platteville. After college he played with the Merrill Rangers, a Semi-Professional football team.

In 1953 Forrest Perkins was chosen as the Merrill Jaycee's Man of the Year. He was Big Eight Conference Coach of the Year in 1955. Also in 1955 he was the Madison Pen and Mike Club Sportsman of the Year. He was National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics District 14 Coach of the Year in 1966, 1967, and 1978, NAIA Coach of the Year for football in 1966, NAIA Football Coaches Association Vice-President in 1979, NAIA Football Rating Committee from 1968-79, NAIA Football All-American Committee, 1968-79, and NAIA Division III Football Committee Chair, 1982, 83, 84.

Forrest was the driving force behind the construction of Warhawk Stadium, a 13,500-seat structure that cost over $1 million. He has been a speaker at numerous athletic clinics and workshops.

Forrest remained as associate professor in the Coaching Department and Stadium Director at UW-Whitewater for several years.

Tag(s): Hall of Fame