Charles A. "Rip" Engle (March 26, 1906 – March 7, 1983) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player and coach of football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. He served as the head football coach at Brown University from 1944 to 1949 and at Pennsylvania State University from 1950 to 1966, compiling a career college football record of 132–68–8. Engle was also the head basketball coach Western Maryland College–now known as

McDaniel College McDaniel College is a private college in Westminster, Maryland. Established in 1867, it was known as Western Maryland College until 2002 when it was renamed McDaniel College in honor of an alumnus who gave a lifetime of service to the college. ...

–during the 1941–42 season at Brown from 1942 to 1946, tallying a career

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

mark of 53–55. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1973.

Early life and playing career

Engle was born in

Elk Lick Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania Elk Lick Township is a township in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,257 at the 2020 census. Mount Davis, the highest point in Pennsylvania, is located within the township. History Elk Lick Township was formed a ...

. He played college football as an

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

at Western Maryland College, now

Coaching career

Engle's coaching record from 1944 to 1965, including stints at Brown University and Penn State, was 132–68–8. He played football at

Western Maryland College McDaniel College is a private college in Westminster, Maryland. Established in 1867, it was known as Western Maryland College until 2002 when it was renamed McDaniel College in honor of an alumnus who gave a lifetime of service to the college. ...

, reportedly in the first game he ever saw. Under the leadership of Engle at Brown,

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1966 to 2 ...

developed as a capable

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and a skillful leader. After graduating in 1950, Paterno joined Engle at Penn State as an assistant coach. Upon Engle's retirement in February 1966, Paterno was named coach of the Nittany Lions for the 1966 season, a position he would hold until 2011. Engle's best season at Penn State was in 1962 when the Lions went 9–2, were ranked ninth in the country, and played in the Gator Bowl. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1973. Engle developed a game called Angleball as a way for his players to maintain physical fitness in the off-season.

Death

Engle died on March 7, 1983, at a nursing home in

Bellefonte, Pennsylvania Bellefonte is a borough in, and the county seat of, Centre County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is approximately twelve miles northeast of State College and is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The bor ...

Head coaching record

College football

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Engle, Rip 1906 births 1983 deaths American football ends Brown Bears football coaches Brown Bears men's basketball coaches McDaniel Green Terror men's basketball coaches McDaniel Green Terror football coaches McDaniel Green Terror football players Penn State Nittany Lions football coaches High school football coaches in Pennsylvania College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Somerset County, Pennsylvania Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania