Dave Kragthorpe

Kragthorpe attended Utah State University in Logan, where he excelled as a two-way tackle for the Aggies from 1951 to 1954. In addition, he was also on the baseball team. Despite all his athletic obligations, Kragthorpe graduated with double bachelor's degrees in physical education and recreation education in 1955. He played one season for the New York Giants as a guard, being taken 188th overall in the 1955 NFL draft.{{cite web | last=Utah State University | first= | title=Kragthorpe Honored by Utah Chapter of the National Football Foundation | website=Utah State Today | date=2008-04-24 | url=https://www.usu.edu/today/story/kragthorpe-honored-by-utah-chapter-of-the-national-football-foundation | access-date=2021-10-05}}{{cite web | title=1955 NFL Draft Listing | website=Pro-Football-Reference.com | date=2021-09-02 | url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1955/draft.htm | access-date=2021-10-05}} A short time later, he returned to Utah State and earned his master's degree in secondary education.

Kragthorpe was an assistant coach for two seasons at Montana and two at South Dakota State; he was promoted to head coach at SDSU in 1969, and posted a {{nowrap|3–7 record.}} He then served as offensive line coach and offensive coordinator at Brigham Young University, under former USU teammate LaVell Edwards from 1970 to 1975. Under Edwards' and Kragthorpe's leadership, the Cougars became one of the first programs committed to throwing the football in the 1970s, a time when "three yards and a cloud of dust" was still the dominant sentiment in college football. Kragthorpe continued to coach the offensive line under new offensive coordinator Doug Scovil from 1976 to 1979.

After a winless {{nowrap|0–11}} season in 1979 under Bud Hake, Idaho State athletic director, I. J. "Babe" Caccia decided to try to import some of the passing magic to Pocatello from nearby Provo, Utah. He hired Kragthorpe as his head coach in {{nowrap|November 1979,}} and the Bengals improved to {{nowrap|6–5}} in 1980 and came within nine points of eventual national champion Boise State in the season finale.

The best results were definitely in his second season in 1981, when the Bengals won the Big Sky Conference title, hosted two playoff wins, and won the Division I-AA championship in Texas for a {{nowrap|12–1}} season. They were led by senior quarterback Mike Machurek, a junior college transfer from California; he was a sixth round pick in the 1982 NFL draft, serving as a reserve player with the Detroit Lions. During the 1981 season, Idaho State outscored its opponents {{nowrap|422–172.}} The following year, the Bengals fell to {{nowrap|3–8;}} Kragthorpe was {{nowrap|{{winning percentage|21|14|record=y}}}} in three seasons at ISU, from 1980 to 1982.

In June 1983, Kragthorpe stepped away from the sidelines to take over as athletics director at his alma mater, Utah State in Logan.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zTJTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=K4MDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6578%2C1223025 |work=Deseret News |location=(Salt Lake City, Utah) |last=Sorensen |first=Mike |title=Kragthorpe's back at his alma mater |date=June 4, 1983 |page=4A}}

===Oregon State===

Eighteen months later in December 1984, he returned to coaching,{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5eZVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FOEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6285%2C7708137 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |last=Cawood |first=Neil |title=OSU's search finally ends |date=December 29, 1984 |page=1B}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=m1hWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=D-8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6980%2C7830940 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Kragthorpe will coach Beavers |date=December 29, 1984 |page=16}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5uZVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FOEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5365%2C8253186 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |last=Cawood |first=Neil |title=OSU to throw, says new coach |date=December 30, 1984 |page=1E}} when he was hired to replace Joe Avezzano at Oregon State University {{nowrap|in Corvallis.}} Once again, he implemented a pass-oriented offense for the 1985 season, penned the "Air Express." This offense did not correlate to much success in the Pacific-10 Conference, as Kragthorpe failed to have a winning record in any of his six seasons with Oregon State, compiling an overall record of {{nowrap|{{winning percentage|17|48|2|record=y}}.}} In recognition of how difficult the Oregon State job was perceived to be in those days, Kragthorpe won the Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors in 1989, despite having a losing record that year with the Beavers. Kragthorpe resigned from Oregon State on November 21, 1990, after an especially disappointing 1–10 result that season.{{cite web | title=Kragthrope steps down as Oregon State coach | website=UPI | date=1990-11-21 | url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/11/21/Kragthrope-steps-down-as-Oregon-State-coach/1116659163600/ | access-date=2021-10-05}}

Despite Kragthorpe's record at Oregon State, he will be forever linked to one of the greatest wins in program history. In his first season at the helm, Kragthorpe led the {{nowrap|Beavers (2–4)}} into Husky Stadium in Seattle to take on the Washington Huskies as 38-point underdogs. With 1:29 left in the fourth quarter, the Beavers successfully blocked a Washington punt and recovered the ball in the end zone for the winning touchdown; the final score of 21–20 was then the largest upset by point spread in college football history.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fmtfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6i4MAAAAIBAJ&pg=2814%2C1258947 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho)|title=Oregon State stuns UW, 21-20 |date=October 20, 1985 |page=3C}}

In 1994, Kragthorpe was hired by the USU Alumni Association to resurrect the university's alumni chapters program. Despite officially retiring in 2001, Kragthorpe can still be found at his desk in the Alumni Office, overseeing the USU alumni chapters in Idaho and northern Nevada.

Kragthorpe is a member of the Old Main Society, Alumni Sustaining Membership program, Big Blue Club, and the Emeriti Association. In 2005, he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award. His son, Kurt, is a sportswriter for the Salt Lake Tribune, while another son, Steve, served as head coach at Tulsa and Louisville. Grandson Brad Kragthorpe is an assistant for the Cincinnati Bengals.{{cite web | title=Bengals add Brad Kragthorpe to their coaching staff | website=Cincy Jungle | date=February 28, 2019 | url=https://www.cincyjungle.com/2019/2/28/18244828/lsu-tigers-football-bengals-add-brad-kragthorpe-to-their-coaching-staff | access-date=October 5, 2021 }}

Kragthorpe and his wife, Barbara, split their time between Logan, Utah and Louisville, Kentucky.

{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = South Dakota State Jackrabbits

| conf = North Central Conference

| startyear = 1969

| endyear = single

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1969

| name = South Dakota State

| overall = 3–7

| conference = 3–3

| confstanding = 3rd

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = South Dakota State

| overall = 3–7

| confrecord = 3–3

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Idaho State Bengals

| conf = Big Sky Conference

| startyear = 1980

| endyear = 1982

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1980

| name = Idaho State

| overall = 6–5

| conference = 4–4

| confstanding = T–3rd

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship = national

| year = 1981

| name = Idaho State

| overall = 12–1

| conference = 6–1

| confstanding = T–1st

| bowlname = NCAA Division I-AA Championship

| bowloutcome = W

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1982

| name = Idaho State

| overall = 3–8

| conference = 1–6

| confstanding = 8th

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = Idaho State

| overall = 21–14

| confrecord = 11–11

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Oregon State Beavers

| conf = Pacific-10 Conference

| startyear = 1985

| endyear = 1990

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1985

| name = Oregon State

| overall = 3–8

| conference = 2–6

| confstanding = 9th

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1986

| name = Oregon State

| overall = 3–8

| conference = 2–5

| confstanding = 10th

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1987

| name = Oregon State

| overall = 2–9

| conference = 0–7

| confstanding = 10th

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1988

| name = Oregon State

| overall = 4–6–1

| conference = 2–5–1

| confstanding = 8th

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1989

| name = Oregon State

| overall = 4–7–1

| conference = 3–4–1

| confstanding = 6th

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1990

| name = Oregon State

| overall = 1–10

| conference = 1–6

| confstanding = 10th

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = Oregon State

| overall = 17–48–2

| confrecord = 10–33–2

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record End

| overall = 41–69–2

| bowls = no

| poll = no

| polltype =

}}

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{{South Dakota State Jackrabbits football coach navbox}}

{{Idaho State Bengals football coach navbox}}

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{{Oregon State Beavers football coach navbox}}

{{1981 Idaho State Bengals football navbox}}

{{Pac-12 Coach of the Year}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kragthorpe, Dave}}

Category:1933 births

Category:Living people

Category:BYU Cougars football coaches

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