Dick Trachok Explained

Dick Trachok
Birth Date:27 December 1925
Birth Place:Jerome, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Death Place:Reno, Nevada, U.S.
Player Years1:1943
Player Team1:Pittsburgh
Player Years2:1946–1948
Player Team2:Nevada
Player Positions:Halfback, fullback
Coach Years1:1949–1958
Coach Team1:Reno HS (NV)
Coach Years2:1959–1968
Coach Team2:Nevada
Admin Years1:1969–1986
Admin Team1:Nevada
Overall Record:40–48–3 (college)

Richard Matthew Trachok (December 27, 1925[1] – August 2, 2020) was an American 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 United States 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]

Trachok died on August 2, 2020, at the age of 94.[10]

Head coaching record

College

Notes and References

  1. Dick Trachok: Memories of a Life in Sports, University of Nevada, Reno, 2014.
  2. Web site: Dick Trachok. sharedhistory.acs.unr.edu. May 6, 2018.
  3. 2008 Nevada Football Media Guide, p. 146, University of Nevada, Reno, 2008.
  4. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ak4aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xiMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2282,5230026&dq=dick-trachok&hl=en Nevada Trounces Hawaii, 73 to 12
  5. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cQcwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1GkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6356,5391947&dq=dick-trachok&hl=en Penn State Held Favorite to Win Over Pitt Today
  6. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NEAwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aUgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5611,5877671&dq=dick-trachok&hl=en Keep Grid Patterns Simple, Coaches Told
  7. https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0D11F73A5C1A7B93C0A8178FD85F4D8585F9 Trachok New Coach Of Nevada's Eleven
  8. https://archive.today/20130125164107/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rP0iAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NM4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4091,3283693&dq=dick-trachok&hl=en Team Cancels 6-Hour Flight For Bus Ride
  9. http://www.nevadawolfpack.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10000&ATCLID=654723 Nevada Athletics Hall of Fame
  10. https://eu.rgj.com/story/sports/college/nevada/2020/08/02/nevada-football-icon-dick-trachok-dies-age-94/5529703002/ Beloved Nevada icon and Wolf Pack's No. 21, Dick Trachok has died