After a disappointing 5-9 record and citing the need for him to reside in St. Louis year-round, the Cardinals dismissed head coach Wally Lemm on January 10, 1966.

The Chicago native spent his offseason in Lake Bluff, IL, and declined to move to St. Louis until his children graduated from high school. His son Mike was in college, but his daughter Debbie was only in her junior year.

“We knew when we hired him that Wally wanted to be head coach on a six-month basis and that was fine,” club president Stormy Bidwill told the St. Louis Post Dispatch after Lemm’s dismissal. “But we felt more and more strongly that we wanted a head coach who would be with us all the time.”

“When the issue came up again, there was no compromise available, and by mutual consent, he is leaving the Cardinals.”

“We’re sorry that Wally is leaving because he did a good job with the Cardinals in the past seasons. Wally’s record speaks for itself and he had a good record.”

Lemm didn’t feel it was necessary to live in St. Louis during the offseason.

“I know the job can be done without being present in the offseason,” Lemm said. “We never went into training camp unprepared.”

Lemm told the St. Louis Post Dispatch that he was surprised when the Bidwills renewed conversations about year-round employment because, “I was going on the assumption that my contract (which had a year remaining) stood.”

“I really don’t know whether I was fired or what,” Lemm said.” They offered me a job—I guess. I frankly am not sure what they would have done if I had agreed to take the job year-round.”

Asked to respond to criticism that he was being stubborn by not moving to St. Louis, the coach provided an explanation.

“I feel obligated to fulfill a promise to my wife and I made to each other when we came here. Before that, we had moved from Wisconsin, to Illinois, to Montana, back to Illinois and then to Houston.”

“My son was a sophomore in high school then and we had a daughter coming up. We just told each other we wouldn’t move again until they were through with high school.”

Lemm came to St. Louis from the Houston Oilers of the American Football League, where he coached the team to a 1961 championship.

In his first year with the Cardinals, the team struggled at quarterback and finished with a 4-9-1 record.

But an outstanding draft in 1963 and the emergence of quarterback Charley Johnson, the team greatly improved the next two seasons with 9-5 and 9-3-2 records. The Cardinals were picked as a championship contender in 1965, but again struggled with injuries and only won 5 games, losing eight of their last nine.

“Almost everything bad that could happen to a team happened,” Lemm told the St. Louis Globe Democrat. “We didn’t get much help in the draft but then we didn’t need too much. We were pretty solid going in. Injuries, I expect, caused us more grief than anything else. And Charley Johnson’s and Larry Wilson’s hurt the most.”

Lemm discounted reports that the team was rife with dissension that led to the collapse.

“Sure, some of the veterans were unhappy,” Lemm said years later in Robert Burnes book, Big Red, Story of the Football Cardinals, “because some rookies who weren’t helping us too much had big contracts or no-cut contracts. But I feel the same now as I did when it was all going on—that it wasn’t as serious as it sounded. Some of the guys who did the loudest moaning played some of the best football.”

Asked why a full-time coach had become so urgent, Stormy said:

“We felt that it is a growing need from a public relations and organizational standpoint. A coach by just being here with his staff gets a better idea of what goes on, so that when a trade or a decision of any kind comes up, it doesn’t take a lot of telephone calls to get it done.”

“There are often decisions that have to be made in 48 hours and they can be made better with a coach being on hand. For example, Billy and I have had to make talks at places sometimes when a head coach should have been there. We especially want fans to feel that this is a St. Louis organization.”

It didn’t take long for Lemm to find another job. He was rehired by the Houston Oilers about three weeks later after the Oilers agreed to allow Lemm to remain in Illinois for the 1966 season.

“We have the agreement that until my daughter finishes high school, I will only operate during the season in Houston,” Lemm said. “She has one more year. Afterwards, I will move to Houston.”

Lemm led the Oilers to a couple of playoff appearances in 1967 and 1969 and returned to play St. Louis at Busch Stadium in 1970. After a 44-0 Big Red victory, Lemm announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season.

Lemm had a 64-67-7 record as an NFL/AFL head coach. He passed away from a heart attack in 1988 while attending a college reunion in Milwaukee.