Richard Matthew Trachok (December 27, 1925''Dick Trachok: Memories of a Life in Sports'', University of Nevada, Reno, 2014. – August 2, 2020) was an American university

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 ...

and

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 ...

coach. He served as the head coach at the

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

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 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 ...

, he served in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

. He then attended the

, where he played on the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

as a halfback from 1946 to 1948. Trachok coached the

Reno High School Reno High School (RHS) is a public secondary school in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is a part of the Washoe County School District. The school's teams are known as the Reno Huskies, and the school colors are red and blue. History Reno High wa ...

football team, where the ''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is a multi-platform newspaper based in Salt Lake City, published by Deseret News Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS ...

'' described him as "one of Nevada's most successful high school gridiron coaches."Keep Grid Patterns Simple, Coaches Told
''The Deseret News'', April 26, 1957. During a coaching clinic held in 1957 at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

, he recommended that coaches keep their offenses and defenses simple. In April 1959, Nevada hired Trachok as its head coach.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 Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

in favor of a 32-hour bus ride after a plane crash killed sixteen players from California Polytechnic.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

. He held that post until 1986.Nevada Athletics Hall of Fame
, 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.Beloved Nevada icon and Wolf Pack's No. 21, Dick Trachok has died
/ref>

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trachok, Dick 1925 births 2020 deaths American football fullbacks American football halfbacks Nevada Wolf Pack athletic directors Nevada Wolf Pack football coaches Nevada Wolf Pack football players High school football coaches in Nevada People from Somerset County, Pennsylvania Military personnel from Pennsylvania Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Reno, Nevada