Dan Radakovich (November 26, 1935 – February 20, 2020) 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 and coach. He helped coach the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

to multiple

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

wins in the 1970s as the team's offensive line coach. He spent 48 years in collegiate and professional coaching before his retirement in 2008. Radakovich graduated from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

in 1957, and immediately began working on the coaching staff of the

Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Penn State Lady Lions basketball, Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot ...

, which he continued until 1969. He went to

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

in 1970, and joined the Steelers in 1971. Described as "lean, and blond, a center in his playing days", Radakovich was "a Western Pennsylvania guy who had been on Noll's staff in 1971 but resigned to take a coaching job in college football". Radakovich subsequently returned to working with professional football, where he helped persuade

Chuck Noll Charles Henry Noll (January 5, 1932 – June 13, 2014) was an American professional football player and head coach. Regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, his sole head coaching position was for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the ...

to draft

Franco Harris Franco Dok Harris (March 7, 1950 – December 20, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a fullback for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football fo ...

out of Penn State. After a stint in Colorado, he coached the Steelers' offensive line from 1974 to 1977. In 1978, Radakovich left Pittsburgh to work on the coaching staff of the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

, then switched to the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

in 1979. His last position was as an assistant with

Robert Morris University Robert Morris University (RMU) is a private university in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1921 and is named after Robert Morris (financier), Robert Morris, known as the "financier of the American Revolution". It enr ...

. Radakovich died in 2020 at the age of 84.

References

1935 births 2020 deaths American football centers Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches Cleveland Browns coaches Colorado Buffaloes football coaches Denver Broncos coaches Los Angeles Rams coaches Minnesota Vikings coaches NC State Wolfpack football coaches New York Jets coaches Pittsburgh Steelers coaches Penn State Nittany Lions football coaches Penn State Nittany Lions football players Robert Morris Colonials football coaches San Francisco 49ers coaches St. Louis Rams coaches People from Duquesne, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania American people of Serbian descent {{amfoot-coach-stub