Richard Jacob Evans (May 31, 1915 – May 26, 2008) 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 ...

and

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 ...

player and coach of football. He played both

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 ...

and

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

before graduating in 1940. Evans then played professional football 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 ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for four seasons, from 1940 to 1943, the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

and the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

. At the same time, he played professional basketball with

Sheboygan Red Skins The Sheboygan Red Skins (or Redskins) were a professional basketball team based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which was an original National Basketball Association franchise during the 1949–50 NBA season, 1949–50 season. History Overview The Re ...

, the

Chicago Bruins The Chicago Bruins were an American basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois. Owned by Chicago Bears football team owner George Halas, the Bruins were a member of the American Basketball League, a league that also featured other National Footbal ...

, and

Chicago Studebaker Flyers The Chicago Studebaker Flyers (also known as the Chicago Studebakers) were a National Basketball League team from 1942 to 1943.Charley Rosen. The First Tip-Off'. McGraw-Hill, 2008. 105. They were funded by the United Auto Workers and replaced Geor ...

. After serving as an officer in the United States Marine Corp during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Evans coached football from 1946 to 1972, first at the college level and then with several NFL teams.

Early life and college career

Evans was born on May 31, 1915, in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Professional athlete

Basketball

Evans played for four teams in the National Basketball League between the 1940–41 and 1942–43 seasons: the Hammond Ciesar All-Americans,

, and

. In 32 career games played he averaged 2.4 points per game.

Football

Evans also played with the

during the

1940 NFL season The 1940 NFL season was the 21st regular season of the National Football League. The ten teams of the league each played an 11 game schedule, for a total of 55 regular season games. The season ended on December 8, when the Chicago Bears defeate ...

and the

1943 NFL season The 1943 NFL season marked the 24th year of the National Football League. The league contracted to just eight teams, owing to wartime pressures for manpower, with each team playing a regular season schedule of 10 games — 40 contests in all. T ...

. During the two season in between, he played with the

Military service

Evans served as an officer in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

during

. He played for the 1944 El Toro Flying Marines football team coached by Dick Hanley. The following year, he was the head coach of the

1945 Santa Barbara Marines football team The 1945 Santa Barbara Marines football team, also known as the Goleta Marines, represented the United States Marine Corps's Air Station Santa Barbara in Goleta, California during the 1945 college football season. Led by head coach Dick Evans, ...

Coaching career

In 1946, Evans was hired as the line coach at

Long Beach City College Long Beach City College (LBCC) is a public community college in Long Beach, California, United States. It was established in 1927 and is divided into two campuses, the Liberal Arts Campus (LAC) in Lakewood Village and the Trades, Technology, an ...

under head football coach Ed Wagner. The next year, he moved on to the

University of Nevada The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded ...

to become an assistant under head football coach

Joe Sheeketski Joseph L. Sheeketski (April 15, 1908 – April 22, 1995) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the College of the Holy Cross from 1939 to 1941 and at the University o ...

. After four seasons at Nevada, Evan resigned, in January 1951, to seek a head coaching job. He was an assistant coach at Loyola University of Los Angeles during the 1951 season. In May 1952, Evans returned to the Chicago Cardinals as line coach under head coach

Joe Kuharich Joseph Lawrence Kuharich (April 14, 1917 – January 25, 1981) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of San Francisco from 1948 to 1951, and at Notre Dame Fighting Irish football, Notr ...

. Evans was a member of the Marines in 1953 and 1954 and coached football teams at the

Naval Air Station San Diego Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island , at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay in San Diego, California, is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy – Naval Base Coronado ( ...

and

Naval Air Station Atsugi is a joint Japan-US naval air base located in the cities of Yamato, Kanagawa, Yamato and Ayase, Kanagawa, Ayase in Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa, Japan. It is the largest United States Navy (USN) air base in the Pacific Ocean, and once housed ...

. During this time, Evans discovered

Johnny Green John Waldo Green (October 10, 1908 – May 15, 1989) was an American songwriter, composer, musical arranger, conductor and pianist. He was given the nickname "Beulah" by colleague Conrad Salinger. His most famous song was one of his ear ...

and recommended him to

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

basketball coach

Forddy Anderson Forrest "Forddy" Anderson (March 17, 1919 – October 25, 1999) was an American basketball coach. He was the first coach in NCAA history to take two different teams to the Final Four; Bradley in 1950 and 1954 and Michigan State in 1957. Early l ...

. Evans was an assistant with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

from 1955 to 1958, Notre Dame in 1959, the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

from 1960 to 1963, the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

from 1964 to 1968, the Green Bay Packers in 1970, and the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

from 1971 to 1972.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Dick 1915 births 2008 deaths American football ends American men's basketball players Basketball players from Chicago Centers (basketball) Forwards (basketball) Chicago Bruins players Chicago Cardinals coaches Chicago Cardinals players Chicago Studebaker Flyers players Cleveland Browns coaches Coaches of American football from Illinois El Toro Flying Marines football players Green Bay Packers coaches Green Bay Packers players Hammond Ciesar All-Americans players Iowa Hawkeyes football players Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball players Long Beach City Vikings football coaches Loyola Lions football coaches Military personnel from Chicago New England Patriots coaches Nevada Wolf Pack football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches Philadelphia Eagles coaches Players of American football from Chicago Santa Barbara Marines football coaches Sheboygan Red Skins players Washington Redskins coaches United States Marine Corps officers United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II