Hall of Fame Inductee Search
Hugo Bezdek
Position: Coach
School: Oregon, Arkansas, Penn State, Delaware Valley
Years: 1906-1949
Inducted: 1954
Place of Birth: Prague, Bohemia
Date of Birth: 4/1/1884
Place of Death: Atlantic City, NJ
Date of Death: 9/19/1952
Member Biography:
Hugo Bezdek played fullback at the University of Chicago and
was third team All-America in 1905. He played second base on the
college baseball team. He was the football coach at Oregon in
1906, Arkansas 1908-12, Oregon again 1913-17, and Penn
State 1918-29. He was Penn State's baseball coach 1920-30
and director of athletics 1930-36. In 1937-38 he coached the
Cleveland Rams. And in 1949 he went back to college
coaching for one year at Delaware Valley. His college
coaching record was 127-58-16. He also coached the Mare
Island (CA) Marines after the college season ended in 1917.
Bezdek was in the Rose Bowl three times -with the 1916
Oregon team, 1917 Mare Island, and 1922 Penn State. He
managed a baseball team, Pittsburgh Pirates, 1917-19, doing
this job in the summer between his football coaching
assignments in the fall. The Pirates hadn't had a winning record
in five years, but Bezdek brought them to fourth place. His
Penn State football teams in 1919-22 went 30 straight games
undefeated (3 ties). His best players at Penn State included
Harry Wilson, Bob Higgins, and Glenn Killinger. Hugo
Bezdek was born April 1, 1884, in Prague, Bohemia; he came
to the United States in 1889. He died September 19, 1952.
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