Ed Troxel

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

Ed Troxel grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His father died when he was eight years old, and his high school football coaches had a great influence on him, leading to his career in coaching.

Manzanola and Caldwell

His first coaching job was in 1949 in tiny Manzanola, Colorado, fifty miles east of Pueblo. In four years his football teams went 42-6 (.875) and won two state titles. He moved to Caldwell, Idaho in 1953 to coach Caldwell High School, and his teams had a 16-2-1 record (.894) in his two years there. In 1954 he moved to the College of Idaho, also in Caldwell, where he coached football, boxing, and track. He was at C of I for four years, but the 16 hour days he was spending at campus forced him to find another job in 1958.

Borah Lions

Borah High School, the second public high school in Boise, opened in the fall of 1958 on the southwest side of town. Troxel was hired as its first football and track coach, where he instituted a weight-training program that was far ahead of its time. Troxel stayed at Borah for nine years, where his Lions amassed a dominating 78-6-2 record (.918) in football, winning the Southern Idaho Conference (and unofficial state title) eight times, settling for runner-up once. His Borah track teams won 5 state titles. One of his most notable football players was Steve Preece, of the class of 1965. Preece was the quarterback of the Oregon State teams of 1967-68, "The Giant Killers," and later played defensive back in the NFL for nine seasons.

Idaho Vandals

In 1967, Ed Troxel moved north to the University of Idaho in Moscow as an assistant coach in both football and track. He was the head coach for the Vandal track team from 1970-73, stepping down when he became the head coach of the football team in December 1973. One of his notable hires was his first offensive coordinator, a 27 year-old Dennis Erickson, who was hired away from Montana State and stayed for two seasons. In Troxel's third season in 1976 the Vandals went 7-4 (5-1 in the Big Sky), with center John Yarno selected as a Division I first-team AP All-American. Idaho fell to 3-8 in 1977 and five weeks later, on December 30th, Troxel was requested to resign by new UI president Richard Gibb. The involuntary resignation ended Troxel's four years as head coach and 11 football seasons at the university. [http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_year_by_year.php?coachid=2361]

Kennewick Lions

In 1978 Troxel moved over to eastern Washington to coach football at Kennewick High School. In 13 seasons he led his new Lions to a 104-33 record (.759), winning four conference titles. He retired after the 1990 season at the age of 65.

Troxel was inducted into the high school halls of fame in both Idaho and Washington and was a member of the inaugural induction class of the Central Washington Sports Hall of Fame.

Ed Troxel died in Kennewick on Monday, January 22, 2001, after a three month battle with pancreatic and liver cancer. Troxel, 75, was survived by his wife Donna (married in 1948), daughter Melissa, and three sons: Lon, Van, & Andy. Two of his sons are high school head coaches: Van Troxel of Lake City High School in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and Andy Troxel at Southridge High School in Kennewick.

His memorial service at Kennewick High was attended by over a thousand, including many athletes and coaches from his various coaching stops. Among those was Oregon State's Dennis Erickson, Troxel's first offensive coordinator at Idaho. Also in attendance were twenty former players from his championship Borah High teams of the 1960s, numerous ex-athletes from his University of Idaho football and track teams, and countless members of his Kennewick High football teams.

References and external links

* "The Idaho Statesman", 01-Jan-1978
* [http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/2001/0124/story2.html Cancer claims former Lions coach Troxel] - Tri-City Herald.com - 24-Jan-2001
* [http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/2001/0128/story1.html Hundreds honor beloved coach] - Tri-City Herald.com - 28-Jan-2001
*"Idaho coaching legend dies," "The Idaho Statesman," by Johnna Espinoza, 24-Jan-2001
* [http://www.pkmeco.com/vandal/troxel.htm Cancer Takes former Vandal Coach] Spokane "Spokesman-Review" - 24-Jan-2001
* [http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_year_by_year.php?coachid=2361 College football data warehouse.com] - Ed Troxel - Idaho - 1974-77