Jerry J. Davitch (born June 9, 1941) is a former

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 ...

coach and secondary school administrator. Since 2004, he has served as the superintendent of schools in Richland Township, just northeast of

Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, Johnstown is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropol ...

. Davitch served in a similar capacity for eight years (1996–2004) in nearby Conemaugh Township in

Davidsville Davidsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,119 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Davidsville is part of the munic ...

. He was previously the principal of Conemaugh Township High School and its head football coach.

Playing career

The son of immigrant parents, Davitch played on the

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, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

at Greater Johnstown High School in

. He was an undersized

right guard Right Guard is an American brand of deodorant and shower gel that is manufactured and sold by Thriving Brands LLC. It is the second largest brand in the male deodorant category in the United States. Right Guard was introduced in 1960 by The Gi ...

(, ) for the Trojans on an undefeated championship team in the fall of 1958. After graduation in 1959, he accepted a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

and headed west to play

and wrestle at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. Davitch started two years at guard for the Wildcats and was the captain of the wrestling team as a senior; he earned a bachelor's degree in education from UA in 1965.

Early coaching career

After starting as an assistant coach, Davitch first became a

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

in 1969 at Salpointe High School in

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. His record was in the four years, including a 9–1 season in 1971. While at Salpointe, he completed his master's degree in secondary education at UA in 1971. His offense at Salpointe used the relatively new

wishbone Wishbone commonly refers to: * Furcula, a fork-shaped bone in birds and some dinosaurs Wishbone may also refer to: * Wish-Bone, an American salad dressing and condiment company * Wishbone formation, a type of offense in American football * Wish ...

formation. Davitch moved up to college ranks after the 1972 season as an assistant coach at

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

for five seasons, from

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

through

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

. Under head coach Ben Martin, Davitch coached the offensive line for the first three seasons and receivers for the final two.

Collegiate head coach

On January 10, 1978, Davitch was hired as the

of the

Idaho Vandals The Idaho Vandals are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing the University of Idaho, located in Moscow. The Vandals compete at the NCAA Division I level as a member of the Big Sky Conference. The football team was an independent for th ...

of the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eigh ...

, at an annual salary of At the time, the Idaho football program had posted just four winning seasons in over four decades, and the last four head coaches had been fired after two to four seasons. In addition, no Vandal head football coach had left with a winning record since

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

. Through the

season, Idaho was a Division I football program in a Division II football conference. When the Big Sky was formed in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

, Idaho intended to join for all sports ''except'' football, and continued to play as a "University Division" independent, which it did through

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

with

Dee Andros Demosthenes Konstandies Andrecopoulos (October 17, 1924 – October 22, 2003) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics He was the head coach at the University of Idaho from 1962 to 1964 and Oregon State University from ...

. At the time, there were six teams in the conference and one did not play football ( Gonzaga), for only four conference games per year. Idaho reluctantly agreed to conference play for the 1965 season, but maintained the upper tier status by filling their non-conference schedule with other University Division teams. After a weak schedule in 1966, when "Thunder Ray" McDonald led the nation in rushing, the program was temporarily downgraded by the NCAA in August 1967, but was elevated back to the University Division in July 1969, which was renamed "Division I" for the 1973 season. The Big Sky added two teams in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

, and it became increasingly difficult for the Vandals to stay healthy through its non-conference games, then often fared poorly with reserves when conference play resumed. With the formation of

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

in 1978, both Idaho and the Big Sky were moved to the new division for its first year, also Davitch's. Davitch replaced the popular

Ed Troxel Edward Ross Troxel (November 20, 1925 – January 22, 2001) was a high school and college football coach in Colorado, Idaho, and eastern Washington. His most notable coaching stops were at Borah High School in Boise, the University of I ...

, a longtime defensive assistant and former head coach of the track team. Troxel was asked to resign by the new university president on New Year's Eve, six weeks after his fourth season concluded with a record. The Vandals were the previous season in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, for their first winning record in five years. (Troxel, the head coach at Borah High in

Boise Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown area's ...

for its first nine years had been reluctant to accept the position; he turned it down after the

and

seasons, but was ultimately persuaded by the players to accept.) Davitch retained the

veer The Veer is an option running play often associated with option offenses in American football, made famous at the collegiate level by Bill Yeoman's Houston Cougars. It is currently run primarily on the high school level, with some usage at t ...

option on offense, but the progress was slow in his

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

two 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

seasons. In his third season in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

, the improving Vandals went 6–5 with walk-on

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

freshman

Ken Hobart Kenneth Charles Hobart (born January 27, 1961) is a former professional football player, a quarterback in the USFL and CFL, where he played from 1985–1990. Collegiate career Hobart played college football at the University of Idaho from 198 ...

at quarterback, with a record in conference play. Expectations were high entering the

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

season, and the "Gold Rush" Vandals were picked as one of the top five teams in

by The Vandals lost close games and then were hit by injuries; they lost their final six games to finish at and were winless in conference. (Mercurial

Idaho State , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

won the Big Sky and the Division I-AA title in

.) Davitch compiled a record in his four seasons in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and became the fifth consecutive head coach to fired. He was notified nine days before his final game, a home loss to

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

Boise State, the defending I-AA national champions. Davitch was succeeded by 34-year-old

Dennis Erickson Dennis Brian Erickson (born March 24, 1947) is an American football coach who most recently served as the head coach for the Salt Lake Stallions of the Alliance of American Football league. He was also the head coach at the University of Idaho ( ...

, hired on December 11. Idaho achieved success in the next two decades and did not fire a head football coach for 22 years (

Tom Cable Thomas Lee Cable Jr. (born November 26, 1964) is an American football coach who last was the offensive line coach for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the Seattle Seahawks assistant head ...

after

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

After Idaho

In 1982, Davitch returned to Tucson to work as an athletics administrator for the public school district and as a broadcaster for

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

football. While at Idaho in 1980, Davitch had interviewed for the Arizona head coaching position, which went to Larry Smith, then at

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

. After several years in Arizona, Davitch returned to

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and was the

at his alma mater, Greater Johnstown High School, from 1985 to 1990. In six seasons, he had a record, which included a title in 1989. Davitch was later the head coach at Conemaugh Township High School in

.Richland School District
– Administration – Jerry Davitch Davitch was also the principal of CT High School, and later the superintendent of schools In 2004, he became superintendent of schools in Richland Township, just northeast of his childhood hometown of Johnstown. At age 73, Davitch came out of retirement in 2014 to be the head football coach at

Bishop McCort High School Bishop McCort High School is a private, Catholic high school located in Johnstown, Pennsylvania in Cambria County. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, though it is not run by the Roman Catholic Diocese due to its priv ...

in Johnstown.

Personal

While head coach at Idaho, Davitch married his wife Terry and both of their sons were born, Jim and Jerry. Both served as

officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

in the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

, as did their wives.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

Cambria County Sports Hall of Fame
– Jerry Davitch {{DEFAULTSORT:Davitch, Jerry 1941 births Living people American football guards Air Force Falcons football coaches Arizona Wildcats football players Arizona Wildcats wrestlers Idaho Vandals football coaches High school football coaches in Arizona High school football coaches in Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Johnstown, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania