Former football coach part of UT’s 35-0 streak passes away

November 22, 2013 | Events, News, UToday
By Staff



Frank X. Lauterbur, Toledo, UT football coach and athletic director from 1963 to 1970, died Nov. 20 at age 88.

Lauterbur

Lauterbur

Lauterbur, who had a 48-32-2 record at UT, began the famous 35-0 Rocket streak from 1969 to 1971. His teams won Mid-American Conference titles in 1967, 1969 and 1970.

The 1969 and 1970 teams were nationally ranked in the top 20 of Wire Service Polls and won Tangerine Bowl Championships. In both of those seasons and in 1967, Lauterbur was named MAC Coach of the Year and Ohio College Coach of the Year.

A total of 55 players recruited by Lauterbur were either first- or second-team All-MAC; four of those players won National All-America Honors: Tom Beutler, Curtis Johnson, Chuck Ealey and Mel Long, who are all in the University’s Varsity T Hall of Fame.

Lauterbur left UT following the 1970 season to become the head coach at the University of Iowa. He also coached in the NFL with the Baltimore Colts, the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks.

He was inducted into the Varsity T Hall of Fame in 1983 and the MAC Hall of Fame in 1990.

While at the University, Lauterbur also served as a board member and later president of the UT Federal Credit Union.

Visitation will take place Sunday, Nov. 24, from 4 to 9 p.m. at Walker Funeral Home, 5155 W. Sylvania Ave. The funeral will start with prayers Monday, Nov. 25, at 10:30 a.m. at the funeral home followed by mass at 11 a.m. at Little Flower Catholic Church, 5522 Dorr St.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Lauterbur Scholarship Fund through The University of Toledo Foundation, P.O. Box 586, Toledo, OH 43697.

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