:Bruce Craddock
{{Short description|American football player and coach (1944–1990)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox college coach
| name = Bruce Craddock
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1944|2|19}}
| birth_place = Washington, D.C., U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1990|2|22|1944|2|19}}
| death_place = Macomb, Illinois, U.S.
| alma_mater =
| player_years1 = 1964–1965
| player_team1 = Northeast Missouri State
| player_positions = Offensive lineman
| coach_years1 = 1970–1971
| coach_team1 = Northeast Missouri State (OL)
| coach_years2 = 1972–1974
| coach_team2 = Vermont (OL)
| coach_years3 = 1975–1978
| coach_team3 = Northeast Missouri State (assistant)
| coach_years4 = 1979–1982
| coach_team4 = Northeast Missouri State
| coach_years5 = 1983–1989
| coach_team5 = Western Illinois
| overall_record = 65–54–1
| bowl_record =
| tournament_record = 0–1 (NCAA D-II playoffs)
0–1 (NCAA D-I-AA playoffs)
| championships = 2 MIAA (1981–1982)
GCAC (1988)
| awards = All-MIAA Honorable Mention (1965)
2× MIAA Coach of the Year (1981–1982)
Truman State Athletics Hall of Fame (1989)
| coaching_records =
}}
Richard Bruce Craddock (February 19, 1944 – February 22, 1990) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Northeast Missouri State University—now known as Truman State University—in Kirksville, Missouri from 1979 to 1982 and Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois and he from 1983 to 1989, compiling a career college football coaching record of 65–54–1.
Career
Craddock graduated in 1966 from Northeast Missouri State University—now known Truman State University—in Kirksville, Missouri—where he was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. After serving in the Vietnam War, he began his coaching career at Northeast Missouri State as an assistant coach from 1970 to 1971. He was an assistant coach at the University of Vermont from 1972 to 1974, before returning to Northeast Missouri State in 1975 as an assistant. He was a guest coach for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 1979 to 1982. Craddock was named head football coach at Western Illinois University in 1982.{{Cite journal
| journal = The Signet, A Magazine for Members of Phi Sigma Kappa Fraternity
| title = Chapter Eternal
| author = Staff article, no byline
| editor = Albert D. Shonk, Jr.
| date = Spring 1990
| volume=LXXXI |issue=2 |page=23
}}
Death
Craddock died on February 22, 1990, aged 46, after a 10-month battle against cancer in a Macomb, Illinois hospital. Physicians linked the cancer to his exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, where he was a United States Marine Corps captain from 1967 to 1970.{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-02-23-9001160327-story.html |title=Bruce Craddock, Western Illinois Coach, Dies At 46 |last=Conklin |first=Mike |date=February 23, 1990 |work=Chicago Tribune |accessdate=August 19, 2014 |archive-date=April 8, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408042922/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-02-23/sports/9001160327_1_western-illinois-coach-gateway-conference-sidelines |url-status=live }}
Head coaching record
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = Northeast Missouri State Bulldogs
| conf = Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association
| startyear = 1979
| endyear = 1982
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1979
| name = Northeast Missouri State
| overall = 4–7
| conference = 3–3
| confstanding = T–3rd
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1980
| name = Northeast Missouri State
| overall = 5–6
| conference = 3–3
| confstanding = T–3rd
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = conference
| year = 1981
| name = Northeast Missouri State
| overall = 6–4
| conference = 4–1
| confstanding = 1st
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = conference
| year = 1982
| name = Northeast Missouri State
| overall = 9–2
| conference = 5–0
| confstanding = 1st
| bowlname = NCAA Division II Quarterfinal
| bowloutcome = L
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Northeast Missouri State
| overall = 24–19
| confrecord = 15–7
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = Western Illinois Leathernecks
| conf = Association of Mid-Continent Universities
| startyear = 1983
| endyear = 1984
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1983
| name = Western Illinois
| overall = 3–8
| conference = 0–3
| confstanding = 4th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1984
| name = Western Illinois
| overall = 6–4–1
| conference = 0–2–1
| confstanding = 4th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = Western Illinois Leathernecks
| conf = Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference
| startyear = 1985
| endyear = 1989
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1985
| name = Western Illinois
| overall = 5–5
| conference = 2–3
| confstanding = T–3rd
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1986
| name = Western Illinois
| overall = 6–5
| conference = 2–4
| confstanding = 5th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1987
| name = Western Illinois
| overall = 7–4
| conference = 5–1
| confstanding = 2nd
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = conference
| year = 1988
| name = Western Illinois
| overall = 10–2
| conference = 6–0
| confstanding = 1st
| bowlname = NCAA Division I-AA First Round
| bowloutcome = L
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1989
| name = Western Illinois
| overall = 4–7
| conference = 1–5
| confstanding = T–6th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Western Illinois
| overall = 41–35–1
| confrecord = 16–13
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
| overall = 65–54–1
| bowls = no
| poll = no
| polltype =
}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Truman Bulldogs football coach navbox}}
{{Western Illinois Leathernecks football coach navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Craddock, Bruce}}
Category:American football offensive linemen
Category:Truman Bulldogs football coaches
Category:Truman Bulldogs football players
Category:Vermont Catamounts football coaches
Category:Western Illinois Leathernecks football coaches
Category:United States Marine Corps officers
Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War
Category:Coaches of American football from Washington, D.C.
Category:Players of American football from Washington, D.C.
Category:American people of Welsh descent
Category:Deaths from cancer in Illinois
{{1980s-collegefootball-coach-stub}}