John Weinert

John Weinert (September 5, 1931--August 6, 2015) was an American college basketball coach. He coached Bowling Green from 1976 to 1986.

Born on September 5, 1931 to Violet and Anthony Weinert, Weinert competed in football and basketball while at Rufus King High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He enrolled at the University of Notre Dame but transferred to the University of Wisconsin to complete a degree in physical education. Later, Weinert earned a master's degree at Northern Michigan University. He served in the army before launching his coaching career at his high school alma mater. Afterwards he led Ripon College to multiple conference championships. Weinert coached St. Joseph’s College of Indiana to three consecutive NCAA Division II basketball tournaments before leaving in 1976 to take the head coaching job at Bowling Green.

At Bowling Green, Weinert became well-known for his quirky sense of fashion, including an orange sportcoat. He compiled a record of 146-133 in ten years leading the Falcons. In 1978, the Mid-American Conference coaches named him coach of the year, with the Basketball Times giving him the same honor in 1980. In 1981, Weinert coached Bowling Green to a MAC co-championship and led the team to an outright championship two years later. In 1968, in the midst of a losing season, Weinert announced his retirement. “Being a coach for 24 consecutive years, well, there’s been a lot of pressure and a lot of decisions,” Weinert said.

Weinert's first wife Shirley died on August 7, 1987; he remarried Elaine in 1990. Weinert joined the board of directors of Towne Bancorp in 1992 in what turned out to be a poor investment, with the company going bankrupt in 1998. He died on August 6, 2015 in Ellenton Hospice House in Palmetto, Florida. The cause of death was pneumonia, although he had suffered from lung cancer for two years. Weinert is survived by his second wife, two daughters, and one son.