Rodney Thomas Franz (February 8, 1925 – November 27, 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 college football as a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

from 1946 to 1949. As a senior, he was a unanimous selection on the

1949 College Football All-America Team The 1949 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1949. The eight selectors recognized by the ...

. Franz was the first head football coach at

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

, serving for one season, in 1955, and compiling a record of 1–3–1. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as player in 1977. Franz began his coaching career in 1951 at

Mount Diablo High School Mount Diablo High School is a public high school located in Concord, California, United States. It is the oldest school in the Mount Diablo Unified School District, founded in April 1901. The school currently serves western Concord, the unincorpo ...

Concord, California Concord ( ) is the largest city in Contra Costa County, California. According to an estimate completed by the United States Census Bureau, the city had a population of 129,295 in 2019 making it the eighth largest city in the San Francisco Bay ...

, where was head football coach for four seasons. He returned to his alma mater, California, after his stint at UC Riverside and was an assistant football coach there in 1956 and 1957. Franz later worked as a lobbyist for the East Bay Municipal Utility District. He died on November 27, 1999 after suffering from prostate cancer for nine years.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* * 1925 births 1999 deaths All-American college football players American football guards California Golden Bears football coaches California Golden Bears football players Coaches of American football from California College Football Hall of Fame inductees Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from prostate cancer High school football coaches in California Players of American football from San Francisco UC Riverside Highlanders football coaches {{collegefootball-player-stub