Wallace Joe "Chief" Newman (May 28, 1902 – November 6, 1985) was an American football and baseball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Whittier College in Whittier, California from 1929 to 1950, compiling a record of 102–66–14. Newman also coached basketball and baseball at Whittier and was the school's athletic director.
Newman played football and baseball at the University of Southern California (USC). He played in the 1923 Rose Bowl, the first bowl game appearance for the USC Trojans. Newman coached at Covina High School in Covina, California for four years before he was hired at Whittier. Newman was Native American and an enrolled member of the La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians and the Mission Creek Band of Mission Indians which he led as president from 1957 until shortly before termination.Stamates, Nicholas (May 15, 2019). Nixon and the Chief: Quakers, the Return of Blue Lake and Nixon's Indian Mentor Wallace J. Newman. Retrieved December 10, 2020, from https://dc.uwm.edu/rsso/2019/panel2B/1/ In the early 1930s, he coached Richard Nixon, who was a reserve player for Whittier and went on to become president of the United States. Newman was briefly considered for the post of Commissioner of Indian Affairs by Nixon during his presidency.Stamates, Nicholas., & Nadolski, Emily (2024). Nixon and the Chief: Wallace “Chief” Newman’s impact on the modern Tribal Sovereignty. Independently published. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTQP76NB 9798877913080
Newman died on November 6, 1985.
Head coaching record College football
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