While at Illinois he played football with Red Grange under coach Robert Zuppke.

[5] He earned a master's degree of the University of Iowa, and in late 1929, he was hired as athletic coach and physical education director at Tracy High School in Tracy, California, a position he took up in early 1930.

[7] in 1932, Umnus was appointed head athletic coach at Jordan College in Menominee, Michigan.

He was the head football coach at the school for 35 seasons and his teams produced a record of 135–64–9.

At Northwestern, he coached all sports including baseball, basketball, tennis, and wrestling.