Frank Michael Tritico (March 25, 1909 – March 5, 1966), sometimes listed as Frank Mitchell Tritico, 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 ...
coach. He was the head coach of the
Randolph Field
Randolph Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Bexar County, Texas, ( east-northeast of Downtown San Antonio).
Opened in 1931, Randolph has been a flying training facility for the United States Army Air Corps, the United ...
football team 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 ...
. His
1943 Randolph Field Ramblers football team compiled a 9–1–1 record, including a 7–7 tie with
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
in the
1944 Cotton Bowl Classic. The
1944 team compiled a perfect 11–0 record, outscored opponents by a total of 441 to 19, and was ranked No. 3 in the final AP poll. Football statistician and historian Dr. L. H. Baker selected Tritico's 1944 squad as
national champions
National champions are corporations which are technically private businesses but due to governmental policy are ceded a dominant position in a national economy. In this system, these large organizations are expected not only to seek profit but als ...
for 1944.
Prior to World War II, Tritico coached high school football for
LaGrange High School in
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Lake Charles is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, fifth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the county seat, parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles (Louisiana), Lake Char ...
. He later owned the Tritico Mattress Factory in Lake Charles. He died of a heart attack in 1966 at Lake Charles.
Head coaching record
College
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tritico, Frank
1909 births
1966 deaths
Randolph Field Ramblers football coaches
High school football coaches in Louisiana
Sportspeople from Lake Charles, Louisiana