Joseph John Krivak (March 20, 1935 – December 25, 2012) 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 served as head coach for the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's college sports in the United States, varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate ...

football team from 1987 to 1991, where he compiled a 20–34–2 record. He also served as an assistant coach at Maryland, Syracuse,

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

, and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. As a coach at Maryland, Krivak mentored future

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)

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Boomer Esiason Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason (; born April 17, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals. He played college football for ...

, Neil O'Donnell,

Frank Reich Frank Michael Reich (; ; born December 4, 1961) is an American football coach and former player who is the interim head coach at Stanford University. He played 14 seasons as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He became a coac ...

, Stan Gelbaugh, and Scott Zolak. In all, he coached on seven

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC) championship team staffs and in 14

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 ...

s as an assistant or head coach.

Playing career

Krivak earned three football letters playing

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the Syracuse Orangemen between 1954 and 1956. He blocked for

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (February 17, 1936 – May 18, 2023) was an American professional American football, football player, civil rights activist, and actor. He played as a Fullback (gridiron football), fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the ...

and helped the Orange reach the

1957 Cotton Bowl Classic The 1957 Cotton Bowl Classic was the 21st Cotton Bowl Classic, edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Cotton Bowl (stadium), Cotton Bowl in Dallas, on Tuesday, January 1. Part of the 1956 college football season#Bowl games, ...

. He also played

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

and earned one letter in

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 the Orangemen. Krivak earned his degree in history science in 1957 and an M.A. in education from Syracuse in 1961. Syracuse University honored Krivak in 2011 as a letterwinner of distinction at their Hall of Fame.

Coaching career

High school

Krivak's first coaching experience came at Madonna High School in

Weirton, West Virginia Weirton ( ) is a city in Hancock and Brooke counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located along the Ohio River in the state's Northern Panhandle. The population was 19,163 at the 2020 census, making it the seventh-most populous ...

, where he spent 11 seasons, eight as head coach, and won a state Catholic title.

Assistant coach

He then served as an assistant coach at Syracuse for five years under head coach Ben Schwartzwalder. From 1974 to 1976, he served as an assistant coach at

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

under head coach Jerry Claiborne.Assistant Coaches
, ''2007 Terrapin Football Record Book'', University of Maryland, 2007. He then spent five years coaching at

under George Welsh. In 1982, he returned to Maryland to join

Bobby Ross Robert Joseph Ross (born December 23, 1936) is an American former football coach. He served as the head football coach at The Citadel (1973–1977), the University of Maryland, College Park (1982–1986), Georgia Tech (1987–1991), and the ...

's staff as the quarterbacks coach. Krivak was also responsible for the wide receivers and had a significant role in running the offense.Patient Krivak Finally Gets His Chance
''The Freelance Star'', December 11, 1986.
''The New York Times'', December 11, 1986. Krivak was the offensive play caller for Maryland's 42–40 win over Miami in the Orange Bowl, where the Terps rallied from a 31–0 halftime deficit. It was a game which stood as the greatest comeback in college football history for twenty-two years. At Maryland, Krivak tutored several future NFL quarterbacks:

, Neil O'Donnell,

, Stan Gelbaugh, and Scott Zolak.

Maryland

After the 1986 season, he was chosen to be the successor to Ross and promoted to Maryland head coach at the age of 51. (Ross left Maryland for Georgia Tech following the Len Bias tragedy and the university's reactionary hiking of recruiting standards.) Krivak had previously been a finalist for a head coaching position during his tenure at both Syracuse and Navy, and in 1982 when Maryland hired Ross. As head coach, Krivak accumulated a 20–34–2 record and one minor bowl game appearance, the 1990 Independence Bowl, in which Maryland tied Louisiana Tech, 34–34. One of Krivak's most notable accomplishments at Maryland was a tie game. In 1989, Maryland tied

Penn State #Redirect 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 ca ...

, 13–13, with a last-minute field goal. When the game was last played in 1993, the all-time series record stood at 35 Maryland losses, one win, and one tie. The tie game broke the Terrapins' 24-game losing streak against Penn State. Krivak's signature win however, was the 1990 upset road win against #8 and Sugar Bowl bound Virginia. Following the 1990 season, new athletic director Andy Geiger and Krivak agreed to a five-year contract extension. Krivak tendered his resignation after posting a 2–9 record during an injury riddled 1991 campaign. After the season, athletic director Andy Geiger had initiated a review of the program, which included interviews with the players, some of whom directly criticized Krivak to Geiger. With his resignation, Krivak cited a loss of credibility in the face of the criticism from his players.

Return to assistant coaching

In 1993, '' The Richmond Times-Dispatch'' reported that Bobby Ross, then head coach of the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

was interested in hiring Krivak after his dismissal, but was dissuaded by general manager Bobby Beathard, who wanted someone with NFL coaching experience. In 1995, Krivak took over as quarterbacks coach for

under George Welsh, his former boss at Navy.Krivak Joins Coaching Staff At Virginia; Ex-Maryland Boss Will Guide Cavs' QBs
''The Washington Post'', 17 February 1995. In 1996, Virginia

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

Tom O'Brien left to take the head coaching position at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

, and during the Carquest Bowl, Krivak called the offensive plays in the interim. Virginia lost to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, 31–21. Some observers expected Krivak to be promoted to the position full-time, but in February 1997, Welsh said he was considering calling plays himself without an offensive coordinator. Krivak resigned from the staff shortly afterward.FOUR ASSISTANTS JOIN CAVS' FOOTBALL TEAM
''The Newport News Daily Press'', March 27, 1997. Krivak then ran football camps for youth players in the Mid-Atlantic area.

Death

Krivak died at the age of 77 on Christmas Day 2012 in

Bowie, Maryland Bowie () is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 58,329. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County; i ...

after a long battle with

myelodysplastic syndrome A myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is one of a group of cancers in which blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature, and as a result, do not develop into healthy blood cells. Early on, no symptoms typically are seen. Later, symptoms may includ ...

(MDS) and

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krivak, Joe 1935 births 2012 deaths American football linebackers American football offensive linemen Maryland Terrapins football coaches Navy Midshipmen football coaches Syracuse Orangemen baseball players Syracuse Orange football coaches Syracuse Orange football players Virginia Cavaliers football coaches High school football coaches in West Virginia Sportspeople from Somerset County, Pennsylvania Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Deaths from myelodysplastic syndrome Deaths from cancer in Maryland