Clarence Stasavich (February 9, 1913 – October 24, 1975) was an

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

player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Lenoir–Rhyne College—now known as

Lenoir–Rhyne University Lenoir–Rhyne University is a private Lutheran university in Hickory, North Carolina. It was founded in 1891 and is affiliated with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Academics The university is acc ...

—in

Hickory, North Carolina Hickory is a city in western North Carolina primarily located in Catawba County, North Carolina, Catawba County. The List of municipalities in North Carolina, 25th most populous city in the state, it is located approximately northwest of Charlot ...

from 1946 to 1961 and at East Carolina College—renamed

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

in 1967—from 1963 to 1969, compiling a career

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

head coaching record of 171–64–7. He led Lenoir–Rhyne to the NAIA Football National Championship in 1960. Stasavich was also the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

at Lenoir–Rhyne from 1946 to 1961 and East Carolina from 1963 to 1975.

Playing career

Stasavich attended Lenoir–Rhyne College–now known as—

, where he played football for four years as an

end End, END, Ending, or ENDS may refer to: End Mathematics *End (category theory) * End (topology) * End (graph theory) * End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) * End (endomorphism) Sports and games *End (gridiron football) *End, a division ...

. He also played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

at Lenoir–Rhyne for four years,

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

for two, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

for one. In 1941, Stasavich played professional football for the Charlotte Clippers of the Dixie League.

Coaching career

East Carolina

Stasavich was the head football coach at East Carolina from 1962 to 1969 and the

from 1963 to 1975. During those eight years, Stasavich posted a 50–27–1 record. In 1963 East Carolina was 9–1 and recorded the program's first

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

victory, against

North Eastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...

in the Eastern Bowl. In 1964, Stasavich's team again posted a 9–1 record and beat

UMass The University of Massachusetts is the public university system of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes six campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, a medical school in Worcester and a law school in Dartmouth ...

in the Tangerine Bowl, 14–13. The 1965 football season was a repeat of 1964's record and bowl appearance, except the Pirates won against

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, 31–0, in the Tangerine Bowl. Also in 1965, Stasavich helped bring East Carolina into the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

. In 1969, Stasavich was the third-winningest active coach after

Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

and

Johnny Vaught John Howard Vaught (May 6, 1909 – February 3, 2006) was an American college football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) from 1947 to 1970 and ag ...

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

Death, awards, and honors

Stasavich died of a heart attack, on October 24, 1975, at

Pitt County Memorial Hospital ECU Health Medical Center (previously Pitt County Memorial Hospital and Vidant Medical Center) is a hospital located in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the primary teaching hospital for East Carolina University's Brody School of Medicine and is ...

Greenville, North Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is the county seat of and the most populous city in Pitt County, North Carolina, United States. It is the principal city of the Greenville, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, and the List of municipalities in North Carolina, 12t ...

. Stasavich's love for the Southern Conference was honored when the conference named the football championship trophy the Clarence Stasavich Memorial Trophy. Stasavich was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1970, the ECU Hall of Fame in 1976, the National Association of Directors of Athletics Hall of Fame in 1977, and the

Florida Citrus Bowl Camping World Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Orlando, Florida, United States located in the West Lakes neighborhood of Downtown Orlando, west of new sports and entertainment facilities including the Kia Center, the Dr. Phillips Center for t ...

Hall of Fame in 1986. Lenoir-Rhyne and the city of

named one of the campus streets Stasavich Place in honor of his accomplishments. The street runs in front of the gymnasium and is the main entry to Helen and Leonard Moretz Stadium, the university's football facility.

Head coaching record

References

External links

East Carolina Hall of Fame profile

East Carolina University Icons Gallery profile

Clarence Stasavich Papers. UA 90-07. University Archives, East Carolina University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stasavich, Clarence 1913 births 1975 deaths American football ends East Carolina Pirates athletic directors East Carolina Pirates football coaches Lenoir–Rhyne Bears athletic directors Lenoir–Rhyne Bears football coaches Lenoir–Rhyne Bears baseball players Lenoir–Rhyne Bears football players Lenoir–Rhyne Bears men's basketball players College men's tennis players in the United States University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni United States Navy officers United States Navy personnel of World War II Dixie League (American football) players