Former Arizona State Football Coach Frank Kush Dies at 88
Frank Kush, who coached the Arizona State University football team for more than two decades starting in 1958, died Thursday at age 88.
Arizona Sports passed along the news, which was confirmed by the Sun Devils' athletic department:
"Frank Kush was able to get out of me something that no one else could get," former Arizona State and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Danny White told Arizona Sports. "He affected hundreds of athletes that he coached in that same way."
The Pennsylvania native posted a 176-54-1 record across 22 years with the Sun Devils. That includes a 6-1 mark in bowl games, including four Fiesta Bowl victories in five years beginning in 1971. Only once during his tenure did the team finish with a losing record (4-7 in 1976).
He led Arizona State to seven Western Athletic Conference and two Border Conference championships. He was also honored with the Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award in 1975 after guiding the team to a perfect 12-0 campaign.
Kush left Arizona State in 1979 amid the Kevin Rutledge harassment investigation. He was found not liable in the subsequent lawsuit.
He went on to make stops with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL, Baltimore Colts of the NFL and Arizona Outlaws of the USFL, but Kush never matched the consistent success he found with the Sun Devils.
Kush earned induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995.
His legacy lives on at Arizona State with the program's home games being played on Frank Kush Field at Sun Devil Stadium.
