Richard Jacob Evans (May 31, 1915 – May 26, 2008) 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 wi ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player and coach of football. He played both college football and

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

before graduating in 1940. Evans then played professional football as an

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

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 ...

(NFL) for four seasons, from 1940 to 1943, the Green Bay Packers and the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ...

. At the same time, he played professional basketball with

Sheboygan Red Skins The Sheboygan Red Skins (or Redskins) was a professional basketball team based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which was an original National Basketball Association franchise during the 1949–1950 season. History Overview The Redskins played in th ...

, the

Chicago Bruins The Chicago Bruins were an American basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois. Owned by Chicago Bears football team owner George Halas, the Bruins were a member of the American Basketball League, a league that also featured other National Football ...

, and

Chicago Studebaker Flyers The Chicago Studebaker Flyers (also known as the Chicago Studebakers) were a National Basketball League team from 1942 to 1943.Charley Rosen. The First Tip-Off'. McGraw-Hill, 2008. 105. They were funded by the United Auto Workers and replaced Georg ...

. After serving as an officer in the

United States Marine Corp The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary warfare, exped ...

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 opposing ...

, Evans coached football from 1946 to 1972, first at the college level and then with several NFL teams.

Early life and college career

Evans was born on May 31, 1915, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Professional athlete

Basketball

Evans played for four teams in the National Basketball League between the 1940–41 and 1942–43 seasons: the Hammond Ciesar All-Americans,

, and

. In 32 career games played he averaged 2.4 points per game.

Football

Evans also played with the Green Bay Packers during the

1940 NFL season The 1940 NFL season was the 21st regular season of the National Football League. The season ended when the Chicago Bears defeated the Washington Redskins in the NFL Championship Game by 73–0; this result still stands as the most one-sided vic ...

and the

1943 NFL season The 1943 NFL season was the 24th regular season of the National Football League. Due to the exodus of players who had left to serve in World War II, the Cleveland Rams were granted permission to suspend operations for this season, while the Ph ...

. During the two season in between, he played with the

Military service

Evans served as an officer in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

during

. He played for the 1944 El Toro Flying Marines football team coached by Dick Hanley. The following year, he was the head coach of the 1945 Santa Barbara Marines football team.

Coaching career

In 1946, Evans was hired as the line coach at

Long Beach City College Long Beach City College (LBCC) is a public community college in Long Beach, California. It was established in 1927 and is divided into two campuses, the Liberal Arts Campus in Lakewood Village and the Pacific Coast Campus in central Long Beach ...

under head football coach Ed Wagner. The next year, he moved on to the

University of Nevada The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12 ...

to become an assistant under head football coach

Joe Sheeketski Joseph L. Sheeketski (April 15, 1908 – April 22, 1995) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the College of the Holy Cross from 1939 to 1941 and at the University of ...

. After four seasons at Nevada, Evan resigned, in January 1951, to seek a head coaching job. He was an assistant coach at Loyola University of Los Angeles during the 1951 season. In May 1952, Evans returned to the Chicago Cardinals as line coach under head coach

Joe Kuharich Joseph Lawrence Kuharich (April 14, 1917 – January 25, 1981) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of San Francisco from 1948 to 1951, and at the University of Notre Dame from 1959 ...

. Between 1952 and 1972, Evans was an assistant coach in the NFL, with the Cardinals in 1952, the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

from 1955 to 1958, the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

from 1960 to 1963, the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

from 1964 to 1968, the Green Bay Packers in 1970, and the New England Patriots from 1971 to 1972.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Dick 1915 births 2008 deaths American football ends American men's basketball players Centers (basketball) Forwards (basketball) Chicago Bruins players Chicago Cardinals coaches Chicago Cardinals players Chicago Studebaker Flyers players Cleveland Browns coaches El Toro Flying Marines football players Green Bay Packers coaches Green Bay Packers players Hammond Ciesar All-Americans players Iowa Hawkeyes football players Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball players Long Beach City Vikings football coaches Loyola Lions football coaches New England Patriots coaches Nevada Wolf Pack football coaches Philadelphia Eagles coaches Santa Barbara Marines football coaches Sheboygan Red Skins players Washington Redskins coaches United States Marine Corps officers United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II Coaches of American football from Illinois Players of American football from Chicago Basketball players from Chicago Military personnel from Chicago