.jpg) | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1898-09-23)September 23, 1898 Astoria, Oregon, U.S. |
| Died | March 22, 1965(1965-03-22) (aged 66) Rolling Hills, California, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1919–1921 | Santa Clara |
| 1922 | Gonzaga |
| Position(s) | Quarterback,end,guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1923 | Gonzaga (assistant) |
| 1924–1925 | Gonzaga Prep (WA) |
| 1926 | Los Angeles Angels (PCPL) |
| 1928 | Loyola (CA) |
| 1929–1930 | Cathedral HS (CA) |
| 1931–1938 | Gonzaga |
| 1939 | Loyola (CA) |
| 1944 | San Francisco Clippers |
| 1960–1961 | San Diego |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 44–57–7 (college) |
Michael J. Pecarovich (September 23, 1898 – March 23, 1965) was anAmerican footballcoach andactor. He served as the head football coach at Loyola University of Los Angeles—now known asLoyola Marymount University—in 1928 and 1939,Gonzaga University from 1931 to 1938, and theUniversity of San Diego from 1960 to 1961. Pecarovich also coached two professional teams, the Los Angeles Angels of thePacific Coast Professional Football League and the San Francisco Clippers of the California-basedAmerican Football League.
Pecarovich was the son of Croatianimmigrants (his father Nikola was from Vis) born inAstoria, Oregon,[1] Pecarovich attendedSanta Clara University, where he played on thefootball team from 1919 to 1921 as aguard and anend.[2][3] Pecarovich then transferred toGonzaga University in Spokane, where he played football as aquarterback under head coachGus Dorais.[4] He graduated in 1922,[5] and was an assistant under Dorais.[6] In 1924, Pecarovich earned a law degree and passed thebar exam.[5][7]
After law school, Pecarovich coached theGonzaga High School football team for two years,[5] then led the Los Angeles Angels football team in thePacific Coast Professional League,[6] until 1928.[5] That year, Pecarovich took over as head football coach atLoyola,[8] where he installed theKnute Rockne system.[9] The Lions amassed a 5–3 record in 1928.[8] In 1929 and 1930, he coachedCathedral High School in Los Angeles.[10][11]
Pecarovich returned to his alma mater Gonzaga in 1931 to succeedRay Flaherty as headcoach.[3][12][13][14] While there, Pecarovich appointedBing Crosby, a friend and former classmate, as an assistant coach,[15] and made appearances in several movies alongside Crosby.[7] He remained at Gonzaga through 1938 and compiled a 31–35–5 (.472) record in eight seasons.[8]
In 1939, Pecarovich returned to coach Loyola, which gave him a three-year contract; the Gonzaga administration agreed to release him from the two years remaining on hiscontract.[5][16][17] His second stint with Loyola was not successful, his team earning a2–5–1 record, and he was replaced byMarty Brill.[3] He applied for the head coaching position at theUniversity of Idaho inMoscow in1941, but was not hired despite being considered astrong candidate.[3]
Pecarovich coached the San Francisco Clippers in 1944 in the short-livedAmerican Football League of the Pacific Coast.[18] He led the franchise to a second-place finish with a7–3 record in the eight-team league's only season.[19] He later served as an assistant coach under Flaherty with theNew York Yankees professional football team,[20] then taught atSt. Anthony High School inLong Beach for ten years in the 1950s.[20]
On April 27, 1960, theUniversity of San Diego announced it had signed Pecarovich to a two-year contract as its head football coach.[20] He led theToreros to a6–13–1 (.325) record over two seasons.[8] However, after the 1961 season, the school disbanded its football program.[21]
Pecarovich earned a reputation as a skilledafter-dinner speaker,[22] and provided many lectures in his later life.[23] He also used his oration skills during halftime pep talks, and people who knew both men compared him toKnute Rockne, who had been a famed motivator as theNotre Dame coach.[22] Pecarovich died of a heart attack on March 22, 1965, in his home inRolling Hills, California,[24] and was buried atAll Souls Cemetery in Long Beach.
He was the namesake forPecarovich Field at Gonzaga, a $25,000baseball venue which opened in 1967;[25][26][27] it was renamed August/ART Stadium in 1996 and razed in 2003 to construct theMcCarthey Center.[28] The Gonzaga Athletic Hall of Fame inducted Pecarovich in its class of 1991.[29]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loyola Lions(Independent)(1928) | |||||||||
| 1928 | Loyola | 5–3 | |||||||
| Gonzaga Bulldogs(Independent)(1931–1938) | |||||||||
| 1931 | Gonzaga | 3–4 | |||||||
| 1932 | Gonzaga | 5–3 | |||||||
| 1933 | Gonzaga | 2–6–1 | |||||||
| 1934 | Gonzaga | 8–2–1 | |||||||
| 1935 | Gonzaga | 5–4–1 | |||||||
| 1936 | Gonzaga | 5–3 | |||||||
| 1937 | Gonzaga | 2–6–2 | |||||||
| 1938 | Gonzaga | 1–7 | |||||||
| Gonzaga: | 31–35–1 | ||||||||
| Loyola Lions(Independent)(1939) | |||||||||
| 1939 | Loyola | 2–6–1 | |||||||
| Loyola: | 7–9–1 | ||||||||
| San Diego Toreros(Independent)(1960–1961) | |||||||||
| 1960 | San Diego | 4–5–1 | |||||||
| 1961 | San Diego | 2–8 | |||||||
| San Diego: | 6–13–1 | ||||||||
| Total: | 44–57–7 | ||||||||