Phil Krueger (October 6, 1929 – June 22, 2020) 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, coach, and executive. He served as the head football coach Fresno State University from 1964 to 1965 and at

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

from 1973 to 1975, 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 ...

coaching record of 31–22. Krueger quit the Fresno State head coaching job to join the staff of John McKay at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

(USC) and was an assistant on the 1967 USC Trojans team that won a

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

. After leaving the Utah State job, he again worked for McKay on the staff of 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 ...

's expansion

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

, from 1976 to 1980. He was the offensive backs coach in 1976, the linebackers coach in 1977 and coached the special teams from 1978 to 1980. He continued to work for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers front office in the 1980s, rising to general manager in 1986.

Playing career and education

Krueger played college football as a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Southeast Missouri State College Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing the Holland Col ...

. He graduated from Southeast Missouri State in 1951 with a bachelor's degree in English. Krueger earned a master's degree in physical education from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

in 1956.

Head coaching record

References

1929 births 2020 deaths American football quarterbacks Fresno State Bulldogs football coaches Illinois Fighting Illini football coaches Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches Tampa Bay Buccaneers executives USC Trojans football coaches Utah State Aggies football coaches Junior college football coaches in the United States University of Missouri alumni People from LaSalle, Illinois Sportspeople from LaSalle County, Illinois Coaches of American football from Illinois Players of American football from Illinois {{1960s-collegefootball-coach-stub