Bert F. LaBrucherie (January 19, 1905 – December 10, 1986) 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 served as the head football coach at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(UCLA) from 1945 to 1948 and at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

(Caltech) from 1949 to 1967, compiling a career

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 ...

record of 42–136–2. LaBrucherie was inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987.

Playing career

LaBrucherie played varsity football for UCLA from 1926 to 1928.

Football coaching career

After graduating from UCLA in 1929, LaBrucherie coached the football team at

Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School is the oldest Public education#United States, public high school in the Southern California, Southern California Region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are ...

, his alma mater. As head coach from 1935 to 1944, he had a 60–10–2 record. His team won three "B" team league titles and seven "A" team championships. From 1945 to 1948, he was the head coach for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

. He then served as the head coach at Caltech from 1949 to 1967. His 1946 UCLA Bruins team lost to

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

in the 1947 Rose Bowl. LaBrucherie's overall record at UCLA was 23–16. In his second year as head coach, the Bruins were

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...

champions, and lost to

in the Rose Bowl. LaBrucherie coached the

Caltech Beavers The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

for 19 years in the

Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) is a college athletic conference that operates in the NCAA's Division III. The conference was founded in 1915 and it consists of twelve small private schools that are located in ...

. Though the Caltech coaching position was less demanding, Coach LaBrucherie once explained in an interview that sometimes the players would "line up with the wrong team." Caltech canceled its football program after the 1993 season, and its last football coach was Wendell Jack.

Other sports

Also while at Caltech, LaBrucherie coached track and cross country. Under his leadership, the track team posted an overall record of 107–105. After resigning as the head football coach at Caltech, he coached cross country from 1968 until his retirement in 1973.

Head coaching record

College football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Labrucherie, Bert 1905 births 1986 deaths American football halfbacks Caltech Beavers football coaches UCLA Bruins football players UCLA Bruins football coaches College cross country coaches in the United States College track and field coaches in the United States High school football coaches in California Coaches of American football from California Players of American football from Los Angeles Sports coaches from Los Angeles