Dick Trachok
Sport(s) | Football |
---|---|
Biographical details | |
Born |
Jerome, Pennsylvania | December 27, 1925
Playing career | |
1943 | Pittsburgh |
1946–1948 | Nevada |
Position(s) | Halfback, fullback |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1949–1958 | Reno HS (NV) |
1959–1968 | Nevada |
Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
1969–1986 | Nevada |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 40–48–3 (college) |
Richard Matthew Trachok (born December 27, 1925)[1] is an American former university athletic director and college football coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Nevada, Reno from 1959 to 1968. He amassed a 40–48–3 record during his tenure. Trachok served as the University of Nevada athletic director until 1986.
During World War II, he served in the US Army Air Corps.[2] He then attended the University of Nevada, Reno, where he played on the football team as a halfback from 1946 to 1948.[3][4][5]
Trachok coached the Reno High School football team, where the Deseret News described him as "one of Nevada's most successful high school gridiron coaches."[6] During a coaching clinic held in 1957 at the University of Utah, he recommended that coaches keep their offenses and defenses simple.[6]
In April 1959, Nevada hired Trachok as its head coach.[7] In November 1960, Trachok canceled a six-hour flight to Denver in favor of a 32-hour bus ride after a plane crash killed sixteen players from California Polytechnic.[8] The Nevada flight had been booked with Arctic-Pacific, the same carrier that Cal Poly had used.[8] Trachok finished his coaching tenure with a 40–48–3 record, and took over as Nevada's athletic director. He held that post until 1986.[9] In 1975, the university inducted Trachok into the Nevada Athletics Hall of Fame.[9]
Head coaching record
College
Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nevada Wolf Pack (Far Western Conference) (1959–1968) | |||||||||
1959 | Nevada | 4–3 | 3–2 | 3rd | |||||
1960 | Nevada | 3–6 | 2–3 | T–3rd | |||||
1961 | Nevada | 5–4 | 2–3 | T–4th | |||||
1962 | Nevada | 5–3–1 | 2–2–1 | 3rd | |||||
1963 | Nevada | 3–6 | 2–3 | 5th | |||||
1964 | Nevada | 1–9 | 1–4 | 5th | |||||
1965 | Nevada | 6–4 | 4–1 | 2nd | |||||
1966 | Nevada | 6–3 | 3–3 | T–3rd | |||||
1967 | Nevada | 4–4–1 | 2–3–1 | 5th | |||||
1968 | Nevada | 3–6–1 | 1–4–1 | T–6th | |||||
Nevada: | 40–48–3 | 22–28–3 | |||||||
Total: | 40–48–3 |
Coaching tree
Head coaches under whom Dick Trachok has played under:
- Jim Aiken: Nevada (1946)
- Clark Shaughnessy: Pittsburgh (1943)
- Joe Sheeketski: Nevada (1947–1948)
Player under Dick Trachok who became NCAA and IFL head coach:
- Chris Ault: Nevada (1976–1992, 1994–1995 and 2004–2012) and Rhinos Milano (2016–present)
References
- ↑ Dick Trachok: Memories of a Life in Sports, University of Nevada, Reno, 2014.
- ↑ "Dick Trachok". sharedhistory.acs.unr.edu. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- ↑ 2008 Nevada Football Media Guide, p. 146, University of Nevada, Reno, 2008.
- ↑ Nevada Trounces Hawaii, 73 to 12, The Milwaukee Journal, December 18, 1948.
- ↑ Penn State Held Favorite to Win Over Pitt Today, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 20, 1943.
- 1 2 Keep Grid Patterns Simple, Coaches Told, The Deseret News, April 26, 1957.
- ↑ Trachok New Coach Of Nevada's Eleven, The New York Times, April 12, 1959.
- 1 2 Team Cancels 6-Hour Flight For Bus Ride, The Palm Beach Post, November 16, 1960.
- 1 2 Nevada Athletics Hall of Fame, University of Nevada, Reno, October 25, 2010.