John Roning

John Roning (December 2, 1910 – October 3, 2001) was an American college football player, coach, former athletic director and commissioner of the Big Sky Conference. After he played end for Minnesota from 1932 through 1934, Roning entered the coaching ranks. After a few years coaching in the high school ranks, Roning became the head coach at Gustavus Adolphus in 1939. After he left Gustavus Adolphus in 1942, Roning served as an assistant coach at Minnesota and North Carolina Pre-Flight before he took head coaching positions at Utah Agricultural and later Denver. He then served as athletic director at South Dakota during the 1960s and then as commissioner of the Big Sky Conference from 1971 through 1977.

Early life and career
Roning was an end for Bernie Bierman at Minnesota from the 1932 through the 1934 seasons. He started at end during their 1934 national championship season. In 1939, Roning took over at Gustavus Adolphus College where he served as athletic director, football, basketball and track coach. During his tenure as football head coach, Roning led the Gusties to an overall record of 17 wins, five losses and one tie (17–5–1). He led the Gusties to the 1940 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) championship; however, the school was suspended from the MIAC for the 1941 season for its perceived "overemphasis" on collegiate athletics. From Adolphus, Roning served as an assistant coach at Minnesota, with North Carolina Pre-Flight and again at Minnesota before he became head coach at Utah Agricultural.

Utah Agricultural and Denver
Roning was hired at Utah Agricultural in January 1951 to replace George Melinkovich. During his four-year tenure as head coach of the Aggies, Roning had an overall record of 18 wins, 21 losses and two ties (18–21–2). In February 1955, he resigned as head coach at Utah Agricultural to become the head coach of the Denver Pioneers. During his six-year tenure as head coach of the Pioneers, Roning had an overall record of 27 wins and 33 losses (27–33). He was relieved of his head coaching duties in January 1961 when the university decided to no longer field a football team due to the costs of operating the program.

Later life
After the closure of the Denver football program, in 1961 Roning accepted the position of athletic director at the University of South Dakota. He remained at South Dakota through 1971 when he was selected to serve as commissioner of the Big Sky Conference. He served as commissioner through June 1977 when he was replaced by Steve Belko. Roning retired to Denver, Colorado, where he resided until his death at age 90 on October 3, 2001.