Fred Trosko (September 5, 1917 – February 6, 1999) 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 ...

player and coach. He played at the halfback position for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

football team from 1937 to 1939. He later served as the head football coach at

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

from 1952 to 1964.

Flint Northern High School

Trosko attended

Flint Northern High School Flint Northern High School was a public secondary school located in Flint, Michigan. The original building "#1" was built in 1928 and demolished in the 1980s, after being the home of the Flint Academy. It was one of the high schools in the Flint ...

where he was a star athlete in football, basketball and baseball, earning three

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. Description ...

s in each sport. In 1934, he was selected as an All-Michigan football player and broke the All-Valley Conference scoring record with 71 points (breaking his own record of 66 points set in 1933).

University of Michigan

Trosko enrolled at the

in 1936. Trosko was a multi-sport star at Michigan, earning nine letters in football, baseball and basketball. He played three years as a halfback for the Michigan Wolverines football team from 1937 to 1939. Trosko also handled place-kicking duties for the Wolverines and kicked the extra point that led Michigan to a 7–6 win over Illinois in 1937. He received the Meyer Morton Award in 1937 as the football player who showed the greatest development and most promise as a result of the annual spring practice. In 1939, he led Michigan to a 21–14 win over

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

when he ran 32 yards for the winning touchdown on a fake field goal attempt with 50 seconds left. Trosko earned both bachelor's and master's degree in education from the University of Michigan.

World War II

After graduating from Michigan, Trosko accepted a position as the high school baseball, basketball and football coach at

Hudson, Michigan Hudson is a city in Lenawee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,307 at the 2010 census. The city is mostly surrounded by Hudson Township, but the two are administered autonomously. History Hudson was named for Dr. Daniel ...

. With the entry of the United States into

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 ...

, Trosko joined the

U.S. Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

. He attained the rank of captain and served two of his five years of military service in the European Theater of Operations. While serving in Europe, he met and married his wife. He was discharged from the military in May 1946.

High school coach

In 1946, Trosko was hired as an assistant football coach at his alma mater,

. He served three years as an assistant coach under Guy Huston, who had been his coach in the 1930s. In 1949, Trosko was hired as an assistant football coach at Owosso High School in Owosso, Michigan. He was promoted to head coach in 1950.

Eastern Michigan University

In July 1952, Trosko was hired as head football coach at

(then known as Michigan State Normal College) in

Ypsilanti, Michigan Ypsilanti (), commonly shortened to Ypsi, is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 20,648. The city is bounded to the north by Superior Township and on the west, south, an ...

. The team improved markedly during Trosko's early years as head coach. In his first seven seasons, the team attained a record of 41–19–2, including a 7–1–1 record in 1953 and an 8–1–0 record in 1954. His teams won

Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) was a college athletic conference that existed from 1908 to 1970 in the United States. At one time the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, or IIAC, was a robust league that clai ...

("IIAC") championships in 1954 and 1957. The team's success came to an abrupt end in 1959. Trosko's teams had a 29-game winless streak (0–27–2) starting with the third game of the 1959 season and continuing through the fifth game of the 1962 season. The precipitous decline followed the decision of the Eastern Michigan administration not to follow an IIAC policy that allowed member schools to award scholarships. Competing with non-scholarship athletes against conference schools with scholarship athletes, Trosko's Eastern Michigan teams were unable to compete. In August 1965, Trosko announced his resignation as the school's head football coach, and it was reported that the resignation was the result of "an apparent break with school administrators over policy." Trosko had the second longest tenure of any head coach at the school. He also taught at Eastern Michigan and remained on the faculty at Eastern Michigan after retiring as football coach. He ultimately retired in 1981 as a professor emeritus. In 1982, he was inducted into the Eastern Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.

Death and family

Trosko died at his home at

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Hilton Head Island, sometimes referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia, and southwest of Charleston. The island is n ...

in February 1999. He was survived by his wife of 53 years, Leona, a daughter, Maureen, a son, Fred Trosko, Jr., and five grandchildren.

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trosko, Fred 1917 births 1999 deaths American football halfbacks Eastern Michigan Eagles football coaches Michigan Wolverines football players High school baseball coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in Michigan High school football coaches in Michigan United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Sportspeople from Flint, Michigan Coaches of American football from Michigan Players of American football from Flint, Michigan Military personnel from Michigan