Dick Trachok

{{Short description|American athletic director, football coach and former player (1925–2020)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Dick Trachok

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1925|12|27}}

| birth_place = Jerome, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2020|8|2|1925|12|27}}

| death_place = Reno, Nevada, U.S.

| alma_mater =

| 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)

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships =

| awards =

| coaching_records =

}}

Richard Matthew Trachok (December 27, 1925Dick Trachok: Memories of a Life in Sports, University of Nevada, Reno, 2014. – 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.{{cite web|title=Dick Trachok|url=http://sharedhistory.acs.unr.edu/trachok/player/|website=sharedhistory.acs.unr.edu|accessdate=May 6, 2018}} He then attended the University of Nevada, Reno, where he played on the football team as a halfback from 1946 to 1948.2008 Nevada Football Media Guide, p. 146, University of Nevada, Reno, 2008.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ak4aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xiMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2282,5230026&dq=dick-trachok&hl=en Nevada Trounces Hawaii, 73 to 12] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119122358/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ak4aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xiMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2282,5230026&dq=dick-trachok&hl=en |date=2015-11-19 }}, The Milwaukee Journal, December 18, 1948.[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], Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 20, 1943.

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."[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NEAwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aUgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5611,5877671&dq=dick-trachok&hl=en Keep Grid Patterns Simple, Coaches Told], The Deseret News, April 26, 1957. During a coaching clinic held in 1957 at the University of Utah, he recommended that coaches keep their offenses and defenses simple.

In April 1959, Nevada hired Trachok as its head coach.[https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0D11F73A5C1A7B93C0A8178FD85F4D8585F9 Trachok New Coach Of Nevada's Eleven], The New York Times, April 12, 1959. 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.[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], The Palm Beach Post, November 16, 1960. The Nevada flight had been booked with Arctic-Pacific, the same carrier that Cal Poly had used. 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.[http://www.nevadawolfpack.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10000&ATCLID=654723 Nevada Athletics Hall of Fame] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610233128/http://www.nevadawolfpack.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10000&ATCLID=654723 |date=June 10, 2011 }}, University of Nevada, Reno, October 25, 2010. In 1975, the university inducted Trachok into the Nevada Athletics Hall of Fame.

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