Bernard Anthony Crimmins (April 19, 1919 – March 19, 1993) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and coach. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

and was second-team All-America at guard on the 1941 United Press and International News Service All-American teams. Crimmins played professionally in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

with 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 club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

for one season in 1945. From 1952 to 1956, Crimmins served as the head football coach at

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana University and, with ...

, compiling a record of 13–32. He was also an assistant football coach at Notre Dame from 1946 to 1951 and from 1957 to 1958, and an assistant football coach at Purdue University from 1959 through 1964. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Crimmins served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. On March 29, 1943, Crimmins was assigned to Squadron 21 and told to report to Commander Motor Torpedo Squadron Twenty-One, Navy Yard, New York for outfitting. He then served as a

PT boat A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the wa ...

commander in the Pacific where he was awarded a

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...

. At the time of the award he was a

Lieutenant (junior grade) Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies. United States Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), is ...

. Crimmins also was awarded a Presidential Citation and three battle stars. Crimmins was inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame on August 1, 1975.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crimmins, Bernie 1919 births 1993 deaths American men's basketball players Green Bay Packers players Indiana Hoosiers football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball players United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy officers Recipients of the Silver Star Coaches of American football from Kentucky Players of American football from Louisville, Kentucky Baseball players from Louisville, Kentucky Basketball players from Louisville, Kentucky