Raised in Toledo, Ohio, Orwig was an all-state athlete in high school and went on to be an All-Big Ten basketball player at Michigan. He received three varsity letters in basketball and one in football. After graduating from Michigan, Orwig was a successful high school football and basketball coach from 1931-1945 in Benton Harbor, Michigan and Toledo. He helped develop an athletic program for the occupation forces in Germany and became the athletic director, football coach, and basketball coach at the University of Toledo after World War II.