- Jerry Davitch
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Jerry Davitch Sport(s) Football Biographical details Born June 9, 1941 Place of birth Johnstown, Pennsylvania Playing career 1962-1965 Arizona [1] Position(s) Offensive lineman Coaching career (HC unless noted) 1969-1972
1973-1977
1978-1981Salpointe H.S.
Air Force (OL/WR)
IdahoHead coaching record Overall 15-29 Statistics College Football Data Warehouse Jerry J. Davitch (born June 9, 1941) is a former college football coach and secondary school administrator. Since 2004 he has served as the superintendent of schools in Richland Township, just northeast of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He served in a similar capacity for eight years (1996–2004) in nearby Conemaugh Township in Davidsville. He was previously the principal of CT High School and its head football coach.
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Playing career
The son of immigrant parents, Davitch played on the offensive line at Greater Johnstown High School in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He was an undersized right guard (5'10", 168 lb.) for the Trojans on an undefeated championship team in the fall of 1958. After graduation in 1959, he accepted a scholarship and headed west to play college football and wrestle at the University of Arizona in Tucson.[2] 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. [3]
Early coaching career
After starting as an assistant coach, Davitch first became a head coach in 1969 at Salpointe High School in Tucson. His record was 28-12 (.700) in the four years, including a 9-1 season in 1971.[4] While at Salpointe, he completed his master's degree in secondary education at UA in 1971. Davitch moved up to college ranks after the 1972 season as an assistant coach at Air Force for five seasons, from 1973-77. Under head coach Ben Martin, Davitch coached the offensive line for the first three seasons and receivers for the final two. [5]
Collegiate head coach
On January 11, 1978, Davitch was hired as the head coach of the Idaho Vandals of the Division I-AA Big Sky Conference, at an annual salary of $26,000. [6][7] 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 three or four seasons. In addition, no Vandal head football coach had left with a winning record since 1928.
Davitch replaced the popular Ed Troxel, 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 3-8 record. The Vandals were 7-4 the previous season in 1976, for their first winning record in five years. (Troxel had been reluctant to accept the position; he turned it down after the 1970 and 1973 seasons, but was ultimately persuaded by the players to accept.)
Davitch retained the veer option on offense, but the progress was slow in his first two seasons. In 1980, the improving Vandals went 6-5 with redshirt freshman quarterback Ken Hobart, with a 4-3 receord in conference play. The Vandals were picked as one of the top five teams in Division I-AA by Sports Illustrated before the 1981 season.[8] The Vandals lost close games and then were hit by injuries; they lost their final six games to finish at 3-8 in 1981, winless and in last place in the Big Sky. (Mercurial Idaho State won the Big Sky and the Division I-AA title in 1981.) Davitch compiled a record of 15-29 (.341) in his four seasons in Moscow and became the fifth consecutive head coach to fired. He was notified nine days before his final game (a 43-45 home loss to rival Boise State, the defending I-AA national champions). Davitch was succeeded by 34-year-old Dennis Erickson, hired on December 11. Idaho would achieve success in the next two decades and did not fire a head football coach for 22 years (Tom Cable after 2003).
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 football.[9][10] While at Idaho in 1980, Davitch had interviewed for the Arizona head coaching position, which went to Larry Smith, then at Tulane.
After several years in Arizona, Davitch returned to Pennsylvania and was the head coach at his alma mater, Greater Johnstown High School, from 1985–90. His record in six seasons was 37-23-3 (.611), and included a title in 1988. He was later the head coach at Conemaugh Township High School in Davidsville.[11] Davitch was also the principal of CT High School, and later the superintendent of schools (1996-2004). In 2004 he became superintendent of schools in Richland Township, just northeast of his childhood hometown of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Personal
While head coach at Idaho, Davitch married his wife Terry and both of their sons were born, Jim and Jerry.[10] Both served as officers in the U.S. Air Force, as did their wives.[3]
Head coaching record
Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs Coaches# AP° Idaho Vandals (Big Sky Conference) (1978–1981) 1978 Idaho 2-9 2-4 6th 1979 Idaho 4-7 2-5 6th 1980 Idaho 6-5 4-3 4th 1981 Idaho 3-8 0-7 8th Idaho: 15–29 8-19 Total: 15-29 National Championship Conference Title Conference Division Title †Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches' Poll. References
- ^ Arizona Wildcats.com - football - 2009 media guide - letterman - p.150
- ^ *Johnstown Football 1958 - accessed 2010-05-13
- ^ a b Tribune-Democrat - Shared honor: Davitch credits those who helped him succeed - 2011-07-11
- ^ Salpointe Catholic High School - football record book - accessed 2011-10-04
- ^ Go Air Force Falcons - 2010 media guide - all-time coaches - p.64 - accessed 2011-10-04
- ^ Lewiston Morning Tribune - Davitch named UI coach - 1978-01-11 - p.B1
- ^ Spokesman Review - Vandal cagers investigated - 1978-01-12 - p.25
- ^ Sports Illustrated - Small Colleges - 1981-08-31, p.64
- ^ Lewiston Morning Tribune - Jerry Davitch lands job with Tucson school district - 1982-05-08 - p.3C
- ^ a b Spokesman Review - Once a bearer of bad tidings, Jerry Davitch is surviving - 1983-02-14
- ^ Richland School District - Administration - Jerry Davitch
External links
- College Football Data Warehouse - Idaho Vandals - head coaching records
Idaho Vandals head football coaches Unknown (1893) G. E. Higgins (1894–1895) • No team (1896) • G. E. Higgins (1897) • No team (1898) • Morse (1899) • Frank Herbold (1900–1901) • John G. Griffith (1902–1906) • J. R. Middleton (1907–1908) • John S. Grogan (1909) • John G. Griffith (1910–1914) • Charles M. Rademacher (1915) • Wilfred C. Bleamaster (1916–1917) • No team (1918) • Ralph Hutchinson (1919) • Thomas Kelley (1920–1921) • Robert L. Mathews (1922–1925) • Charles F. Erb (1926–1928) • Leo Calland (1929–1934) • Ted Bank (1935–1940) • Francis Schmidt (1941–1942) • No team (1943–1944) • James A. Brown (1945–1946) • Dixie Howell (1947–1950) • Raymond A. Curfman (1951–1953) • Skip Stahley (1954–1961) • Dee Andros (1962–1964) • Stephen Musseau (1965–1967) • Y. C. McNease (1968–1969) • Don Robbins (1970–1973) • Ed Troxel (1974–1977) • Jerry Davitch (1978–1981) • Dennis Erickson (1982–1985) • Keith Gilbertson (1986–1988) • John L. Smith (1989–1994) • Chris Tormey (1995–1999) • Tom Cable (2000–2003) • Nick Holt (2004–2005) • Dennis Erickson (2006) • Robb Akey (2007– )
Categories:- Idaho Vandals football coaches
- Air Force Falcons football coaches
- Arizona Wildcats football players
- University of Arizona alumni
- People from Johnstown, Pennsylvania
- 1941 births
- Living people
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