Members
Inductee
KIECHLE, JAMES
KIECHLE, JAMES
Born on October 4, 1947
Gary, Indiana
Inducted On
May 7, 2023
Location Inducted
Merrillville, Indiana
Region Number
1
Lowell High School
Coach
Lowell High School
1966
Jim earned varsity letters in football (3), wrestling (1), and track (3).
Parsons college, Purdue University Northwest
B.A., M.S.
1970, 1976
While on a football scholarship at Parsons, Jim's playing career was ended with a second knee injury during his junior year.
While at Lowell High School, he was a four-time State Finalist assistant coach, winning the State Championship in 2005.
In 2022 he was inducted into the Lowell High School Hall of Fame.
Jim met and married his wife Sandy while at Hanover Central in 1974. Sandy and her three children Patricial (Paul), Nicolas (Julie), Laurie (Eldon), and his son Jim (Margo) established a home in Lowell. Currently, Sandy and Jim have twelve grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchildren.
In 1985, Jim joined coaches, Bob Bridge, Joe Lorig and Dave Templin to form the Indiana Wishbone Association. This association was formed to promote Option Football. High school and college coaches from across the country, as well as members from Canada, Australia and England, joined the association. For twenty-five years, as secretary treasurer of the IWA, Coach Kiechle published a newsletter, "The Mesh Point", with articles written by the members.
The IWA led to the formation of the Indiana Option Camps in 1992 spearheaded by Coaches Copeland, Bridge, DuBois, Metzger and himself. Option Camp was held at Tayor University in Upland, Indiana. The camp started with one three-day camp session, and over the years expanded to three sessions each summer. Teams from Indiana, Florida, Canada, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, Delaware, etc. traveled to Upland, Indiana for instruction in the Option Offense.
