Honors and Awards
- All-American (1926)
- Team Captain (1926)
- First-Team All-Missouri Valley Conference (1926)
- Head Football Coach Oregon State (1933-48)
- Oregon Sports Hall of Fame Coach (1981)
- Nebraska Football Hall of Fame (2008)
Nebraska's fourth All-American following Vic Halligan, Guy Chamberlin and Ed Weir, Lonnie Stiner captured All-America honors as a tackle in 1926. Stiner gave the Cornhuskers an All-American presence at tackle for the third consecutive season after Weir captured the honor in both 1924 and 1925.
A two-year letterman for the Huskers in 1925 and 1926 under Coach Ernest E. Bearg, Stiner helped Nebraska to a 6-2 overall record that included a 5-1 mark and second-place finish in the Missouri Valley Conference in 1926. The Hastings, Neb., native also served as the Huskers' team captain during his senior season in Lincoln when he captured first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors.
As a junior in 1925, Stiner helped NU to a 4-2-2 record that included a 17-0 win over Notre Dame and a 14-0 win over Illinois. Stiner was also well-respected on campus during his playing days, serving as one of 13 members of the Society of the Innocents - the Chancellor's Senior Honorary. Membership in the Innocents is based on superior academic achievement, unparalleled leadership and selfless service to the university and community.
Following his playing career, Stiner continued in the game of football as a coach. He made a name for himself as the head coach at Oregon State from 1933 to 1948. During his tenure, he compiled a 74-49-17 record, setting school records for victories and winning percentage (.589). His finest season came in 1939, when he led the Beavers to a 9-1-1 record.
In his first season as head coach, he led Oregon State to one of its greatest upsets in school history with a scoreless tie to USC on Oct. 21, 1933. The Trojans owned a 25-game winning streak and were back-to-back national champions before the Beavers put a blemish on their record. Stiner also led the Beavers to a 20-16 victory over a previously unbeaten Duke team in the 1942 Rose Bowl. Because of war travel restrictions, OSU actually beat the Blue Devils in Durham, N.C. It is the only Rose Bowl ever played outside of Pasadena, Calif., and it followed Nebraska's first-ever Rose Bowl bid by just one season.
Stiner owns the distinction as the longest tenured football coach in Oregon State history, spending 16 years on the sideline for the Beavers while coaching 14 seasons (OSU did not sponsor a team in 1943 or 1944 because of World War II). Stiner was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame for his accomplishments. Three of Stiner's teams were inducted into the Oregon State Athletic Hall of Fame, including the 1933, 1939 and 1941 squads.
Stiner was actually the third former Husker to serve as Oregon State's head coach, joining Edward J. "Doc" Stewart (1913-15) and Dick Rutherford (1920-23).
Born in 1903, Stiner passed away in 1985. He was posthumously inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 2008.