From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American football player and coach (1935?2020)
American football player
Dan Radakovich
(November 26, 1935 ? February 20, 2020)
[1]
was an
American football
player and coach. He helped coach the
Pittsburgh Steelers
to multiple
Super Bowl
wins in the 1970s as the team's offensive line coach.
[2]
He spent 48 years in collegiate and professional coaching before his retirement in 2008.
Radakovich graduated from
Pennsylvania State University
in 1957, and immediately began working on the coaching staff of the
Nittany Lions
, which he continued until 1969. He went to
Cincinnati
in 1970, and joined the Steelers in 1971.
Described as "lean, and blond, a center in his playing days",
[3]
Radakovich was "a Western Pennsylvania guy who had been on Noll's staff in 1971 but resigned to take a coaching job in college football".
[4]
Radakovich subsequently returned to working with professional football, where he helped persuade
Chuck Noll
to draft
Franco Harris
out of Penn State.
After a stint in Colorado, he coached the Steelers' linebackers from 1974 to 1977. In 1978, Radakovich left Pittsburgh to work on the coaching staff of the
San Francisco 49ers
, then switched to the
Los Angeles Rams
in 1979. His last position was as an assistant with
Robert Morris University
. Radakovich died in 2020 at the age of 84.
[5]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"In Memoriam: Dan Radakovich (1935-2020)"
.
RMUColonials.com
. February 20, 2020
. Retrieved
February 20,
2020
.
- ^
"Radakovich, coach at college and NFL levels, retires after 48 years", ESPN.com, Apr. 25, 2008
- ^
Arthur J. Rooney Jr.,
Ruanaidh: The Story of Art Rooney and His Clan
(2008), p. 317.
- ^
Arthur J. Rooney Jr.,
Ruanaidh: The Story of Art Rooney and His Clan
(2008), p. 316.
- ^
"Obituary: Dan Radakovich, a football coach extraordinaire with Steelers, Penn State, RMU"
.