Joe "Smokey Joe" Salem

Born May 1, 1938. Sioux Falls (1956 Cathedral H.S. grad). 1961 Minnesota grad. At USD in 1966, he inherited a team that had won a total of nine games the previous six seasons. Led USD to NCC football titles in 1972, '73 and '74. He was 51-38-2 in nine years (1966-74) at USD. Later coached at Northern Arizona (26-17 from '75-78) and Minnesota (19-35-1 from '79-83) before retiring from coaching. As a player, Salem, a quarterback, earned three varsity letters and was a valuable reserve on Minnesota's 1960 national championship team. After college, he remained at Minnesota as Murray Warmath's assistant for five years. At Cathedral, Salem played four years at quarterback for his dad, Nusier, and also was on the basketball team that won the state Catholic championship in 1953.