To some, the University of California at Los Angeles is still fairly new. UCLA came in to existence in 1919. The University of California has campuses all over the state of California. UCLA is just one of the many University of California Campuses.
UCLA’s first campus was located on North Vermont Avenue where the campus of Los Angeles City College in now located. UCLA’s consistent increases in student enrollment made it mandatory for UCLA to move to a larger campus.
In 1929, UCLA moved to its present Westwood Campus, The Hills of Westwood. UCLA is now recognized by many as one of the major institutions of higher learning in the United States. UCLA had some where around 13,000 students when I was a student there in 1955. The tuition was around $60.00 a semester in those days. I am not sure, but I think that some textbooks cost around $3.50 and $5.00. UCLA’s Basketball Teams practiced and played their home games in the old men’s gym. UCLA’s gym classes, intra mural programs, and men’s volleyball & basketall teams all used the old men’s gym for practice and games. There were no women intercollegiate sports at UCLA in those days. The locker rooms for some of UCLA’s Coaches and the training room were in the basement of the old men’s gym. Westwood Boulevard used to run all of the way through the UCLA Campus to Sunset Boulevard. Naturally UCLA didn’t have Drake Stadium, Pauley Pavilion, and the John Wooden Center in 1955. In 1955 or 1956, Sam Brown, my UCLA football teammate and I were hired to helped move beds into the first wing of UCLA’s first Hospital.
Once while delivering beds to the hospital, Sam and I were able to enter a second story room and look down on doctors who were performing a heart operation on a patient. We were lying on the floor looking down at the operation that was taking place. One of the doctors spotted us and waved to us to leave the room. UCLA had a small campus police force. The policemen’s office was on the first floor in the old men’s gym. The Physical Education Instructors offices, some of the coach’s offices, and the ROTC Offices were also located in the old men’s gym. I think that UCLA only had a four or five-man police force. Many of UCLA’s football players knew all of the policemen.
The policemen were very friendly. Some of the football players and I used to park in the policeman’s parking spaces. I lived at 500 Landfair Street. Fraternity Row is below and behind (north) Landfair Street. I walked to UCLA’s Campus most of the time. Some of the days when I would walk to UCLA’s Campus I would take a short cut to UCLA’s Campus by walking down a hill between some Fraternity Houses and arrive on Fraternity Row. I don’t think that I was supposed to do that but I did it anyway. I had a 1949-used Pontiac automobile.
Sometimes during summer school when I was running late for class, I would drive to the UCLA’ Campus and I would park in the Campus Policemen’s Parking Space. I didn’t park in the policeman’s parking space regularly because I didn’t drive to UCLA’s Campus regularly. I think that they only had two or three parking spaces, which were right in front of the old men’s gym. The police never told me not to park in their parking space even though I knew that I shouldn’t park in their space. I got to know them quite well. I never received a ticket because they knew my car. I used to give a couple of the policeman football tickets. I gave one of the policeman whose name was Jack, one of my UCLA Lettermen’s Jackets. Jack died of cancer. I went to visit him in the hospital. He was dieing of cancer at that the time. Jack didn’t know that he was dieing of cancer. For some reason Jack’s family didn’t want him to know.
The ROTC Instructors had a couple parking spaces in the same area as the policeman. I think that the campus police and the ROTC Instructors had two parking spaces each. There were no parking spaces at the old gym for the coaches. The football coach’s offices were next to the football field. I think that Coach John Wooden’s Office was also in the Old Men’s Gym. I don’t remember where Coach Wooden and the Physical Education Instructors parked their cars. We football players wouldn’t dare park in the ROTC Instructor’s parking spaces. We didn’t know them and they probably would have had our cars towed away.
Some of the information that I gathered about some of UCLA’s Coaches came from a short meeting that I had with them individually. I also acquired some information about the coaches from some ex UCLA athletes, the Internet, UCLA’s Libraries, and from some old UCLA Athletic Programs.
Wilbur Johns Coach and Athletic Director
UCLA Student Athlete - 1924 Basketball
Former UCLA Basketball & Football Coach
UCLA’s Athletic Hall of Fame
UCLA Athletic Director
During UCLA’s early days their practice football field was located where the University Police Building is now located. The practice field was referred to as Spalding Field and was named after one of UCLA’s former football coaches William Spaulding. Wilbur Johns was a former UCLA student athlete. He was also one of UCLA’s first football coaches. At one time, Coach Wilbur Johns was a part time football coach and UCLA’s fulltime Athletic Director. Wilbur later gave up his coaching duties so that he could devote more time to his Athletic Director Position.
Wilbur Johns up graded UCLA’s Athletic Program by hiring Coach John Wooden to coach basketball, Coach Ducky Drake to coach track and cross country and Coach Henry Red Sanders to coach football. More will be mentioned about those coaches later.
The UCLA Coaches wanted to win so they recruited the best athletes available regardless of the color of their skin. UCLA coaches recruiting practices and their teams winning records proved to be fruitful for the players, the coaches, and for UCLA’s Athletic Program.
Coach Henry (Red) Sanders
(Vanderbilt 1927)
UCLA Football Coach 1948 – 1957
Masters Degree - University of North Carolina.
1954 Coach of The Number One College Football Team in The Nation
Disliked by Many of The Coaches in the Pack Eight
Much of the information about Coach Sanders came from the Internet, former players and coaches, from some old UCLA Football Programs, and from some old UCLA Year Books. Coach Sanders was hired as UCLA’s football coach in 1948. He was UCLA’s seventh head football coach. With Coach Sanders it was his way or no way. The UCLA family loved Coach Sanders, but many of the coaches in the conference didn’t like him. Coach would tell it like it is regardless of whose feet he stepped on. A lot of people who had to do business with Coach didn’t like that. Coach Sanders was a good coach and I think that he knew it. He stressed football fundamentals and he got the most out of his players.
Coach Sanders was considered by many to be UCLA’s greatest football coach ever. He was quite a sight. He some times wore to football practice; football pants with high top street boots with no cleats on the bottom of his boots. Coach Sanders and most of his early assistant football coaches were from the South. Their first college football coaching experiences were at Southern Colleges with no blacks on their athletic teams. As late as the early nineteen fifties, very few if any of the colleges and universities in the South had black athletes on their athletic teams. Most of the colleges and universities in the South wouldn’t even participate against colleges and universities that had blacks on their athletic teams. UCLA’s football teams had a few black athletes in the twenties, thirties, forties and fifties. UCLA was a front-runner in accomplishing this fete. Coach Henry (Red) Sanders, Coach, Elwin Ducky Drake, and Coach John Wooden had no problem recruiting black athletes. It was stated that in Coach Sanders first few years at UCLA, he mistakenly referred to black players as nigra’s. Some one told him that the proper reference to black players should be Negroes and not Nigras and Coach handled that immediately. Even though there was some prejudice at UCLA, I can’t think of any problems that black players had with UCLA’s Coaching Staff. I feel that all of the football players were treated the same regardless of their race.
Bobby Pounds, a basketball player at UCLA in 1951 stated that an assistant trainer by the name of Smokey, refuse to tape his ankles. Bobby said that Ducky Drake or another assistant trainer taped his ankle. There is no doubt in my mind that the UCLA Athletic Department handled this situation. Coach Sanders was a tough, tough, no nonsense man. That is you were lucky to get a second chance if you broke one of Coach Sanders rules. You could not be late to or absent from practice without an excuse. I am not sure if any excuse was good enough if it wasn’t pre-approved. Your excuse still might not keep you from getting put off the football team. A football player wouldn’t dare talk back to any of the coaches. There was a football player who talked back to one of UCLA’s assistant coaches and he was kicked off of the football team immediately. After practice the football player came to talk with Coach Sanders during the team’s dinner hour. Coach Sanders not only wouldn’t talk to the player but he wouldn’t even look at him. Coach Saunders said to Coach Billy Barnes one of the coaches sitting at the dinner table with him, “Billy what does he want”? Naturally the player wasn’t allowed to get back on the football team. Many of UCLA’s football players felt that Coach Sanders had an intimidating personality. Coach very seldom spoke to his players and when he did, he usually asked two questions. The questions were, “how are your grades and how much do you weigh?” He would do almost any thing for his players, but you had better not break one of his rules. Coach Sanders told us that we should not steal any thing from the hotel where the football team resided before a football game. Coach Sanders once said that we shouldn’t even steal a bar of soap. Even though he would do almost anything for his football players, he stated that if you stole something from a hotel, you were on your own. That is you couldn’t expect any help from him.
Coach took care of his players. One day during dinner, some of the football players wanted an extra steak during dinner. They went back to get another steak and was turned down by the cafeteria staff. The players went to discuss the issue with Coach Sanders. Coach Sanders told the person in charge of the cafeteria to give the players all of the steaks that they wanted. Once while having lunch after one of the two a day football practices, Coach Sanders observed that the meal that was being served to the football team for lunch. He stated to the cafeteria manager that he didn’t want his football team members eating heavy food for lunch because the players had to practice football again a few hours later. He also said to the cafeteria manager ” get some fans in here”. The cafeteria manager said, “We don't have any fans”. Coach Sanders said to the cafeteria manager “ buy some”! Coach Sanders coaching strategy was to be in the best condition possible.
His coaching philosophy seemed to be that you could win some football games on conditioning and basic fundamentals. His players worked on football fundamentals every day. In my opinion, football is blocking and tackling and we worked on blocking and tackling every day, even on the day of the game. Most of the time players do in a game what they have done in practice. Good tackling teams practice tackling in practice. We worked on these fundamentals every day. We were taught blocking from the ground up. We would get down on all fours and serge up blocking a football-blocking bag. The bags were approximately four feet tall and they weighed about 150 lbs or more. We were taught the basic stance in football depending on the position that we were playing. We started out on our knees. We later worked up in to a hitting position. We did the same for tackling. We did this every day. We worked on the kicking game every day. Many teams worked on the kicking game the day before the game. Coach Sanders coached the Single Wing Football Formation. The Single Wing Football Formation was on its way out. Not many college teams used the Single Wing formation in the early fifties. In this formation the number one ball carrier (tail back) was three to four yards off of the line of scrimmage. This formation penalized UCLA in the case of short shortage. That is, UCLA penalized them selves by starting off with a three to four yard disadvantage. So instead of having a third and one, we had a third and five or six because the tail back is four to five yards off the line of scrimmage. However it didn’t matter. In the Single Wing Formation, every one knew where the ball carrier was going most of the time. It didn’t matter if you knew where the ball carrier was heading because Coach Sander’s Football Players worked on blocking and tackling every day in practice. They could and would beat you most of the time even though UCLA’s opponent knew where the ball carrier was going. According to the Internet, Coach Sanders was given credit for bringing the Single Wing and the balance line to the West Coast. Some say that he originated the 4-4 defense that was copied by many college and professional coaches. He is given credit for developing the quick kick and the spread punt formation. When I coached football at Crenshaw High School in the late fifties, we quick kicked the football a lot. Coach Sander’s football teams won the Pacific Coast Conference Football Championship three years in a row. His 1953 and 1955 football teams played in the 1954 & 1956 Rose Bowl Games. UCLA’s Football Team was voted the number one football team in the nation in 1954. The Pac Eight Football Conference winner couldn’t go to the Rose Bowl in consecutive years, so UCLA couldn’t go to the Rose Bowl again in 1954. All of the football players had to play on offense and defense in those days mostly because of the substituting rule. In the early fifties, if you went out of the game, you couldn’t go back in until the next quarter. Unfortunately, that rule cut down on the playing time of many players. Most players are better offensively or better defensively. This substitution rule, affected how the coaches were able to substitute the players. Unfortunately this rule had a negative effect on many of the players playing time. Coach Sander’s foot players loved him. He was very tough, but he was fare!
Coach Sanders Ten Commandments of Football
1 - The team that makes the fewest mistakes usually wins.
2 - Press the kicking game for it is here that the breaks are made.
3 - Play for and make the breaks; when one comes your way, score.
4 - If at first the game or a break goes against you, don’t slow down, put on
more steam.
5 - Cover Oski and pursue relentlessly – here is the winning edge.
6 - Lineman, protect your kicker and passer. Rush their kicker and passer.
Backs
7 - Protect your kicker and passer.
8 - Carry the fight to your opponent and keep it there all afternoon. Hit hard
and first.
9 - Be mentally alert at all time and leave nothing to chance.
10- Be determined to carry out your assignment and leave nothing to chance.
Win the surest way.
James Jim Myers – (Tennessee 1947)
UCLA’s Line Coach 1949
Senior Assistant Coach
Dallas Cow Boys Line Coach
According to the Internet, Coach Jim Meyers coached with Coach Sanders at Vanderbilt for seven years before joining him at UCLA. Coach Meyers was quite a sight. Coach wore high top boots instead of football shoes. He looked as if he was in good shape, lifted weights, and that he was in good enough shape to wrestle a bear and win. Coach didn’t smile very much. He was considered by many college football coaches as one of the nation’s great college line coaches. Coach Meyers left UCLA and became the line coach for the Dallas Cow Boys when the Cow Boys were winning NFL Championships. When coach Meyers was coaching at UCLA, he taught his lineman to line up on the football not the man next to you. Some football coaches taught their football lineman to line up next to the man next to their left or right. Sometimes when a football player lines up next to the man that he is next to he may not be on the line of scrimmage because the man next to him might not be lined up on the line of scrimmage. One Sunday I was watching the Dallas Cow Boys during a Sunday afternoon football game. Some of the Dallas Cow Boys offensive linemen were lined up next to the player next to them who were not lined up on the line of scrimmage. Unfortunately that meant that some of the Dallas football lineman was off side because they were not lined up on the line of scrimmage. I started to call coach Meyers and tell him but I never did. I figured that Coach Myers would see it during the film session when he watche the game films with his players
Tommy Prothro, JR.
Duke 1942) Quarterback
Political Science Major
7/20/1920 – 5/14/1995
UCLA’s Backfield Coach 1949 – 1954
Football Coach Oregon State 1955
UCLA Football Coach 1964 1970
Coached Two Heisman Trophy Winners
Los Angeles Rams Football Coach
According to information in the UCLA Athletic Library, Coach Prothro attended Duke University where he was a four-letter winner. Coach Prothro won the Jacobs Award for the best blocker in the Southern Conference. Coach coached football at Vanderbilt in 1940. He was the SEC Football Coach of the year in 1941. In 1942 he was a line coach at Western Kentucky College. He was Coach Sander’s assistant coach at Vanderbilt in 1946 to 1948. Coach Prothro, like Coach Meyers has spent several years as an assistant football coach with Coach Sanders before joining Coach Sander’s coaching staff at UCLA in 1949. Coach Prothro coached the backs at UCLA from 1949 to 1954. UCLA was the number one team in the nation in 1954 when Coach Prothro was an assistant coach at UCLA. Coach Prothro later became the head coach at Oregon State in 1955. He took his Oregon Football Team to the Rose Bowl. Coach Prothro was the head football coach at Oregon State for ten years. His record at Oregon State was 63- 37- 2. That is very good! Coach returned to UCLA as UCLA’s Football Coach from 1964 to 1970. Coach guided UCLA’s Football Team to the Rose Bowl in 1966. He was also named coach of the year in 1965. Coach Prothro coached two Heisman Trophy Winners. They were Terry Baker of Oregon State in 1962 and Gary Beban in 1965. His over all wins and loss football record is 104, 55, & 5. Coach Prothro was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1991. Coach Prothro later became head coach of the Los Angeles Rams and the San Diego Chargers Professional Football Teams. He also spent thirty-nine months in the United States Navy.
Coach L. (Johnny) Johnson (UCLA 1940)
Student Athlete (Football & Track) at UCLA 1940
Most valuable football player in the 1946 Hula Bowl
UCLA’s Freshman Coach 1949
Assistant UCLA Varsity Coach And a Good Guy!
U.S. Naval Pilot during World War II
Professor of Education at CSUDH
First CSUDH Athletic Director
Golf Coach at CSUDH
Still an Official with the Hula Bowl
High School
Coach Johnson attended Bakersfield High School in Bakersfield, California. Bakersfield had only one high school when Coach Johnson was a student there. Coach was a great student athlete. He was also a member of his high school track team. Coach Johnson was also the captain of Bakersfield’s Football Team. Coach said that there was a special bus that picked up many of the very large farm boys that were on his high school football team. Bakersfield’s B Football Team like the varsity had many football players. Many times the coaches ran out of football uniforms for the B Football Players. As a varsity football player, Coach Johnson was a member of the All Valley Football Team. He was also the President of the Lettermen’s Club.
UCLA
Coach Johnson a UCLA football player was also a discus thrower on UCLA’ Track Team. Coach told a story about Jackie Robinson leaving a baseball game to participate in a track meet. Coach said that “Jack would take one jump in his baseball uniform and win the event”. “Jackie would then return to the baseball game”. Coach Johnson was the Captain of UCLA’s 1939 Freshman Team. He later was a fullback on UCLA’s 1941 Varsity Football Team. In 1946 Coach made the All Coast Football Team as a senior. Coach entered the United States Navy in 1942 to 1946.
United States Navy 1943 – 1946
Coach was a Navy Pilot for four years while in the Service.
Returned to UCLA
Coach was again a member of UCLA’s Football and Track Teams when he returned to UCLA from the Navy. He played on UCLA’s 1946 Pacific Coast Conference Championship Football Team. Coach played football with the great Jackie Robinson and Kenny Washington. Coach said “while playing defense during one of UCLA’s scrimmages I had an opportunity to tackle Kenny Washington”. “ I thought that the tackle that I would put on Kenny would help me to move up on the football roster”. Coach said, “I dislocated my shoulder attempting to tackle Kenney”. Naturally Coach had to give up football for a while. Coach also said that he thought that Kenney Washington was a better football player than Jackie but that Jackie was a better all around athlete. We know that Jackie was a four - sport letterman at UCLA and Kenney wasn’t. Kenney might have been a four-sport letterman at UCLA if he had the desire to do so.
After UCLA
Coach Johnson’s ended his athletic career at UCLA by being selected to play in the Hula Bowl in Hawaii. Coach won the most valuable players award in the Hula Bowl Game that he participated in. In 1949 Coach Johnson’s college football playing days were over at UCLA. He had a brief professional football career with the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League. Coach went back to college and acquired more degrees. In 1950, he became UCLA’s Head Freshman Football Coach. Coach later became a member of the varsity coaching staff. Coach scouted professional football teams for about thirty years. He scouted for seven different professional football teams. Coach is now enjoying life as an instructor and golf Coach at California State University at Dominguez Hills. Coach Johnson was well liked by all of the players. It was a pleasure to see Coach Johnson at football practice. Coach Johnson made football practice more tolerable. Coach gave me some first hand information about Jackie Robinson, Kenny Washington, and other UCLA black football players. Coach told a story about Coach Barnes dropping a football fan with a right hand during the half time of a UCLA Utah football game in Utah. I will give more information about this later.
Herbert B. “Deke” Brackett
Tennessee 1931)
Football & Baseball Coach at the University of Arkansas
UCLA 1950
Assistant Football Coach at Marshall University
Died in a Plane Crash With Seventy-Four of Marshall’s Football Players, Coaches, Alumni, and Team Supporters.
According to the Internet, Coach Brackett was an athlete and assistant coach at the University of Tennessee for several years. Coach also served in several coaching positions at several universities before coming to UCLA as an assistant coach in 1950. Coach Deke Brackett and coach Bill Barnes came to UCLA together in 1950. Coach Bracket formerly coached football at the University of Arkansas before coming to UCLA. Coach Brackett was also the head baseball coach at the University of Arkansas. According to Coach Johnny Johnson, Coach Brackett and Coach Sanders were very close. They were in the Navy together. Coach Brackett got away with things that most coaches and players could not have gotten a way with. Most coaches and players paid strict attention when the Red Man (Coach Sanders) spoke. Not Coach Brackett! Coach Brackett would give football instructions to some of the players while Coach Sanders was talking. Coach Sanders didn’t like it! Coach Sanders would stop talking and look at Coach Brackett when Coach Brackett was talking when he was talking. Coach Brackett would stop talking until coach Sanders started talking again. Then Coach Brackett would start talking again. Coach Sanders would sometimes cuss and then quit explaining what ever it was that he was explaining to the team. For some reason Coach Brackett was the only one who could get away with something like that. No one else, including the coaches, would dare talk while Coach Sanders was talking. Coach Brackett was a good coach and he was a lot of fun. He was comical. He made you laugh. Coach Brackett left UCLA to become an assistant coach at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Coach Bracket supposedly didn’t like to fly. He would fly only when he had to. He loved to play cards. Supposedly he bumped the manager on a plane ride back home from a football game. He bumped the player so that he could get back home for a Saturday Night Card game. The plane that Coach Brackett was on crashed with many of Marshall’s football players and coaches. Seventy people were on that plane. There was no room on the plane for the cheerleaders. The cheerleaders had a policy that either they all would go or none would go. The lives of the cheerleaders were saved. Unfortunately twenty-four of Marshall’s supporters went down with the plane.
George Dickerson
UCLA 1936
Fairfax High School Los Angeles
Member of UCLA’s Football, Boxing, and Rugby Teams.
UCLA Assistant Varsity Line Coach and Scout
Another good guy!
Some of the information that I have about Coach Dickerson came from some of UCLA’s old Football Programs, UCLA’s old Year Books, and the Internet. I also had conversations with players who were coached by Coach Dickerson and from coaches who coached with him. Coach Dickerson was a very good athlete while at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. He lettered in football, rugby, and boxing as a student at UCLA. He was also the captain of UCLA’s Football Team his senior year. In 1936, UCLA’s Alumni Magazine selected Coach Dickerson to its All UCLA Football Eleven. Like Coach Johnny Johnson, Coach Dickerson graduated from UCLA. After graduating from UCLA Coach Dickerson became UCLA’s Freshman Football Coach. He was later moved up to assist in coaching the UCLA Varsity team. Coach Dickerson didn’t seem to be as vocal as some of UCLA’s other assistant coaches but he was a good coach and he was well liked by all of the football players. UCLA’s head football coach, Coach Henry Red Sanders died before the beginning of the 1958 Football Season. Coach George Dickerson was then selected to become UCLA’s head football coach. During the 1958 football season Coach Dickerson developed some health problems. Coach Dickerson resigned from being UCLA’s head football coach during the 1958 Football Season. Coach Billy Barnes became UCLA’s head football coach after Coach Dickerson resigned.
William F. Barnes (Tennessee 1941)
End and Former Scout Coach for The University of Arkansas
1950 UCLA End Coach and Scout Coach (another good guy)
Head Coach at UCLA 1959
In 1959 Defeated the Number Two-Football Team in The Nation.
Tied for Conference Championship in 1959
Another Conference Championship in 1961
1961 Trip to The Rose Bowl
IN 1961 was rated as high as the number 16 football team in the nation by the American Press
Some of the information that I have about Coach Barnes came from a meeting that I had with Coach and his wife sometime in 2006. I also acquired some information about Coach from some old UCLA Football Programs, the Internet and some of UCLA’s Old Year Books. Coach Barnes was a player’s coach. The players liked Coach Barnes! He was a good coach and he was fair. Coach Barnes coached the ends on UCLA’s varsity football team. Coach became UCLA’s head football coach after Coach Dickerson resigned during the 1958 football season. According to some information from UCLA’s Sports Library, in 1959 Coach Barnes first full year as UCLA’s head football coach, his team defeated the number two - football team in the nation. That team was UCLA’s main rivalry, the University of Southern California. UCLA tied for the Pacific Conference Football Championship that year. Coach Barnes record that year was 5-4-1. In 1961 Coach Barnes guided UCLA to another victory over USC 10 – 7 and another conference championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl. UCLA’s record that year was 7 – 4. The American Press rated Coach Barnes Bruins as the number 16 - football team in the nation. Many felt that Coach Barnes had UCLA on the way back to a national program. I guess that two trips to the Rose Bowl and two consecutive wins over UCLA’s rival USC weren’t good enough for UCLA’s Athletic Director Wilbur Johns. Coach Barnes was fired and Coach Tommy Prothro became UCLA’s head football Coach. Some felt that Coach Barnes was on his way to bringing UCLA’s football program back to national prominence. Unfortunately, Wilbur Johns didn’t feel that way.
Harry Trotter
Track Coach
Old Track Stadium was named after Coach Trotter
The information about Coach Trotter came from the Internet and some old UCLA Year Books.
Harry Trotter was one of UCLA’s early track coaches. Coach Trotter coached such outstanding athletes as Mayor Tom Bradley, Olympian James E. Luvalle, Woody Strode, Craig Dizon, and James O’Neil. UCLA named a track facility after Mr. Trotter. UCLA’s Police Building is now in the place where Trotter Field used to be.
Elwin Ducky Drake
Former UCLA Student Athlete
Former UCLA Track Record Holder
Former Track Team Captain
UCLA – Track Coach – 1945
Won UCLA’s First Pacific Coast Conference and NCAA Track & Field Championships.
Voted United States Coach of The Year!
Head Athletic Trainer
In UCLA’s Athletic Hall of Fame
UCLA’s Drake Stadium is Named After Coach
Some of the information that I have about Ducky Drake came from when I was a member of his track team. I acquired other information about Ducky from some of his former team members and from the Internet. Every body that knew Coach Drake loved and respected him. Ducky has been a member of the UCLA Athletic family since 1923. Ducky was as an athlete, a coach, and the head trainer for all sports at UCLA. Ducky, as he was known was a very good track athlete. He was the holder of UCLA’s mile record at one time. Ducky was the 1925 UCLA Track Team Captain. He doubled as UCLA’s track coach and athletic trainer for many years. Ducky started taking care of UCLA’s athletes in 1942. He was one of the first coaches who recruited black athletes at a time when other colleges and universities wouldn’t dare to do so. UCLA’s coaches, student body and all of the athletes looked up to, respected, and loved Ducky Drake. UCLA named its track stadium after Coach Ducky Drake. The stadium is referred to as Drake Stadium. Coach Drake was the reason why I ended up as a UCLA athlete and I will always be in debited to him.
Coach John Wooden
All Indiana High School Basketball Player
Name Inscribed in Purdue’s Academic Honor Roll
UCLA 1948 – Basketball Coach
English Major
UCLA’s Athletic Hall of Fame
A Great Man!
Some of the information that I have about Coach Wooden came from contacts with Coach when I was a student at UCLA in 1955. I also had a meeting with Coach Wooden some time in August of 2006. I also acquire information about Coach from some of his ex players, from some of UCLA’s old Basketball Programs and Yearbooks, and from the Internet.
What can one say about Coach Wooden that hasn’t already been said? He is one of America’s great leaders of men. He is what America is all about! He loved his athletes. Coach has many sayings that he seems to rattle off by heart. One of his sayings is that there are more good people in the world than there are bad people. He is definitely one of those good people! Many of those who knew Coach Wooden years ago call him Coach, so I am going to refer to him as Coach. Coach was born in Martinsville, Indiana. Naturally he attended school there.
Coach was a great athlete but he was a greater person. He participated in baseball and basketball while in high school. He was selected as the All Indiana State High School Basketball Player three years while he was in High School. His high school basketball team competed for the Indiana State Basketball Championship in 1926, 27, & 28. They won it in 1927 and were runner up in 1926 and 1928. Coach attended Purdue University after high school. Coach continued to show his love for sports by earning letters in basketball and baseball while he was a student athlete at Purdue University. He was the captain of Purdue’s Basketball team. He was the leader of the 1931 and 1932 Big Ten Basketball Championships Teams. Coach’s team won the 1932 National Basketball Team Championship. Coach was not only a great athlete, but he was also a very good student. Coach takes great pride in the fact that his name is inscribed on Purdue’s Academic Honor Roll.
Those who knew Coach knew that academics came before athletics. Coach also took great pride in how he handled his athletes. His players had to attend and pass their classes before they could play basketball for him. They also had to follow his rules and his teachings, which would make them better students and citizens. Coach loved his players and most of his players knew it. At least they do now. A very few of his players might not have felt that way when they were students of his. However, almost all of them do now! Andy Hill was a student athletic at University High School when I was a teacher there. Andy won a basketball scholarship to UCLA. I am not sure that Andy loved Coach when he was a student at UCLA but I know now that he loves Coach now! I didn’t play basketball for Coach.
It has been approximately 50 years ago since I had any association with Coach. I called him and attempted to leave him this message. I said “Coach my name is Chuck Hollaway. I don’t know if you remembered me or not, but I played football and I ran track for the Bruins in 1955”. Coach answered the phone by saying “Chuck yes I remember you”. I attended UCLA 50 years ago and I didn’t play basketball for Coach. However, Coach remembered me! I was Crenshaw High School first football coach in 1970. I can’t remember all of the players who played football for me 30 years ago; however Coach remembered me who attended UCLA 50 years ago. He has a great memory. Coach is 94 and he seems to get around quite well with out too much help. Coach is a remarkable man! I used to see him walking around UCLA’s Track in the afternoons. Coach was gracious enough to meet with me one morning in July of 2005 for breakfast. We discussed some of his old players. I asked him about some of his former players that I couldn’t get in touch with. Gene Williams was one of the players that I asked Coach about. Coach said to me “did you know that he was black”? I said “Coach yes I do”. Some of the players that played with Gene are deceased. The few that are still living don’t remember or know much about Gene. Bobby Pounds was the only other black on UCLA’s Basketball Team at that time. I knew that Gene was black because Bobby Pounds had already told me that he was black. Bobby said that when they played Kentucky, some of the Kentucky Basketball Players call some of UCLA’s white basketball players Nigger Lovers. Steve Butler a former UCLA Football Player said that some of the Tennessee Football Players called him a Nigger Lover when UCLA played Tennessee in football some time in the 1960’s. Coach Wooden was responsible for integrating a few of America’s Southern Basketball Arena’s that were closed to athletes of color. Adolph Rupp, Kentucky’s Basketball Coach supposedly once stated that no black (black is not the word that he supposedly used) would ever play basketball for him. Coach Wooden spoke with great pride while voluntarily informing me that he integrated Kentucky’s Basketball Arena. How ever UCLA’s Basketball team had to stay in a hotel in Cincinnati Ohio. There were no facilities in Kentucky where whites and blacks could stay together. Coach Wooden mentioned two others athletic facilities that he integrated. The other two are Houston and Duke.
Ray Nagel
UCLA 1945
Third Team All City Football Los Angeles High School
UCLA Football Player – All Conference Player
UCLA Football Coach
Assistant football Coach at University of Oklahoma
Head Football Coach at the University of UTAH
Head Coach at the University of Iowa – stated, “Dr. Martin Luther King was one of my best recruiters”.
Athletic Director at Washington State University
Former Executive Director of the Hula Bowl
Coach Nagel was one of the varsity football coaches when I was a student athlete at UCLA in 1955. I acquired some of the information about Coach Nagel from Coach Nagel at a Sanders players football reunion meeting at UCLA. This meeting was held the Thursday before the UCLA Southern California football game in 2006. Some of the information that I acquire about Coach came from old UCLA Football Programs, and from the Internet.
Los Angeles High School
Coach Nagel attended Los Angeles High School in 1941 to 1945. He made the Los Angeles City’s Third Team All City Football Team as a quarterback. Coach Nagel enrolled in UCLA in 1945.
UCLA 1945
Coach Nagel earned three football letters while he was a student athlete at UCLA. Coach lettered in football in 1947, 1948, & 1949. Coach made the All Coast Football Team and was selected as UCLA’s most improved player his senior year. Coach Nagel earned several degrees while he was a student and assistant football coach at UCLA.
After UCLA
In 1953, Coach Nagel played one year for the NFL Chicago Cardinals. He also served as an assistant coach for one year for these same Chicago Cardinals. Coach Nagel also served one year as an assistant coach at the University of Oklahoma. In 1958 to 1965, Coach Nagle was the head football coach at the University of Utah. Coach was the youngest major college coach in Division I Football at that time. Coach Nagel’s 1964 team won Utah’s first bowl game appearance. Coach was hired as Iowa’s Football Coach in 1966. Coach had some problems with some of his black football players and Forest Evashevski Iowa’s athletic director. NFL’s former Coach Denny Green was one of the black member of Iowa’s football team at time. Coach Nagle was strict, tough, and fair when he was a coach at UCLA. I am assuming that Dr. Martin King agrees with Coach Nagel. Coach Nagel said, “Dr. Martin Luther King was one of my best recruiters “. Coach left Iowa and became the Athletic Director at Washington State University in 1971. Coach Nagel has served as a member of the NCAA Football Rules Committee from 1973 to 1976. Coach Nagel later went on to become the Athletic Director at the University of Hawaii. He served in this capacity from 1976 to 1983. Coach Nagel was also the executive director of the Hula Bowl for six years. Coach Nagel is now retired and he lives in San Antonio, Texas with his family.
Craig Dixon
UCLA Track
B.S. Major Art minor
1948 Olympic Bronze Medal Winner
UCLA Assistant Track Coach 1953 1959
Craig was brought up in Nebraska but he received most of his formal education in Southern California. He attended Fairbrook Avenue Elementary and University High Schools in the West Los Angeles area. Craig was active in sports early in life. Craig was always a fast as a runner. Craig won most of the track races that he competed in in high school. The competition was a little bit tougher for Craig when he ran in the 1944 Los Angeles City Track and Field Championship meet. Craig placed second in the high hurdles and fifth in the low hurdles in the Los Angeles City Track and Field Championship Meet in 1944. Craig entered UCLA after high school. Naturally he continued his track activies there. Craig had great speed and he participated in and won a lot of the short sprint races as a member of UCLA’s Track Team. Naturally he continued to run the hurdles. Craig was a world-class athlete. He was a Bronze Medal winner in the 1948 Olympics. He was capable of running in the 1952 Olympics. Unfortunately another hurdler (Billy Anderson) fell into Craig’s lane and Craig didn’t make the 1952 Olympic Team. Craig was the first to run the high hurdles under 14.0. Craig owned most of the West Coast hurdle records at one time. Craig placed third in the 1948 NCAA Track and Field Championship Meet. In 1949, Craing won ever race that he entered, 59 straight. Craig became an assistant coach with Ducky Drake when he finished running track.
Former UCLA Football Players Who Were Later Hired AS UCLA ASSISTANT COACHES
Bob Bergdahl
Dan Peterson
Johnny Herman
Jim Dawson
Sam Bogoshian
Lou Steuwick
Warner Benjaim