VERMONT SPORTS HALL OF FAME

Photo Credit: Middlebury College Athletics

Cornwall

Football: coach-contributor

Inducted 2026

From the day Mickey Heinecken became the head football coach at Middlebury College in 1973, he has built a legacy in developing the sport at all levels in Vermont.

A 1961 graduate of U.Delaware, where he was an honorable mention Little All-American at end. He then served as a graduate assistant coach under the legendary coach Tubby Raymond before serving as an officer in the military. He retuned to Delaware as an assistant football coach, freshman basketball coach and spent 10 years as the head men’s lacrosse coach.  

He then moved to Vermont to be the head football coach at Middlebury College, serving for 28 seasons while compiling a 126-95-2 record, with seven one-loss seasons.   He was the first Vermont college football coach to reach 100 career wins and is the state’s winningest coach.

His 1981 Panthers went 7-1, winning its last seven games, and led the nation in total offense, scoring defense and rushing defense. By the time he retired in 2000, Heinecken had the sixth best win-loss percentage (.567) among Division III football coaches in New England. He was named New England Division III coach of the year in 1977 and 1981. 

Heinecken established in 1993 the Vermont Chapter of the National Football Foundation- Vermont had been one of a handful of states without an NFF chapter. Under his leadership, the Vermont chapter began honoring a player from each high school football-playing schools, awarding scholarships and honoring individual contributors to the game. He was fundamental in creating in 2001 the annual North-South senior all-star game, with proceeds of the game going toward scholarships and grants. In 2007 Heinecken received a national NFF Chapter Leadership Award. 

Heinecken also has been a longtime volunteer building and repairing houses for the Addison County Habitat for Humanity.

In 2013, he was the recipient of the George C. Carens award for contributions to New England football, given by the New England Football Writers. He was inducted into the U Delaware Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016. In addition to his Blue Hens football career, his lacrosse teams had a 68-45 record and in 1971 captured the Middle Atlantic Conference and USILA Central Atlantic Division titles. 

He also was named to the Middlebury College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019 for football and as the head men’s tennis coach for 16 seasons.