University of Wisconsin-Stout Athletics

Best known for coaching the Blue Devils to the conference football championship in 1965 although that stands as only one of Max Sparger's accomplishments at Stout.

Sparger arrived at UW-Stout in 1959 and served the institution in a variety of capacities, including as an assistant football and basketball coach, head wrestling coach, head golf coach, head track and field coach and head football coach. He served as UW-Stout’s athletics director from 1969-71.

Sparger  served as Athletic Director for two years before leaving to become Commissioner of Athletics for the nine-team Wisconsin State University Conference, a position he held for 22 years (1971-93).

Sparger was inducted into the UW-Stout Hall of Fame in 1980 and the NAIA District 14 Hall of Fame in 1985. The WIAC Men’s Scholar-Athlete Award is named in his honor. The UW-Stout football press box facility at Don & Nona Williams Stadium is named in his honor.

A football and wrestling student-athlete, Sparger earned a bachelor’s degree from Dubuque University (Iowa) and master’s degree in education from Macalester College (Minn.). He passed away in September 1993. Sparger was a native of Wichita Falls, Texas.

Sparger was inducted into the WIAC Hall of Fame in 2012, the first year of the Hall's existence.