Athletes - Frank Kush

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	Athletes - Frank Kush

Frank Kush (born January 20, 1929) was a football coach who most prominently served as head coach at Arizona State University for more than two decades, and also worked in the same capacity for three different professional leagues.

Kush's no-nonsense approach to coaching was shaped as one of 14 children of a Pennsylvania coal miner. He played three years as a 5-7, 150-pound defensive lineman for Michigan State University from 1950-1952, earning All-American honors and helping the Spartans capture a national championship in his last season.

After spending two seasons in the U.S. Army, where Kush rose to the rank of first lieutenant as he coached the Fort Benning football team, he accepted an assistant coaching position at Arizona State under former Spartan coach Dan Devine. When Devine left in 1958 to become the head coach at the University of Missouri, Kush was promoted to the position, which he would hold for the next 21 years.

During his lengthy career in the desert, Kush compiled a record of 176-54-1, with only two losing seasons. In his first 11 years, he captured two conference titles and finished runnerup five times. That success led to him accepting the head coaching job at the University of Pittsburgh on January 4, 1969. However, just five days later, Kush had a change of heart and returned to Arizona State.

Kush's return would begin a memorable era in Sun Devil football history with five consecutive Western Athletic Conference championships as the team won 50 of 56 games from 1969 to 1973. During this time, Arizona State won the 1970 Peach Bowl and the first three editions of the Fiesta Bowl. In 1974, the team dropped to 7-4, but bounced back with authority the following year when they went 12-0, capping the year with a thrilling 17-14 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Fiesta Bowl.

A down year in 1976 saw the team fall to 4-7, but another comeback resulted the next year with a 9-3 mark. In that year's Fiesta Bowl, the Sun Devils lost a bowl game for the only time under Kush's leadership, with a 42-30 defeat to Penn State. In 1978, Kush's team once again finished 9-3, this time defeating Rutgers University in the Garden State Bowl. That win would be one of the final highlights of Kush's tenure as controversy and scandal the next year toppled him from his head coaching position.

In September 1979, former Sun Devil punter Kevin Rutledge filed a $1.1 million lawsuit against the school, accusing Kush and his staff of mental and physical harassment that forced him to transfer. The most dramatic charge was that Kush had punched Rutledge in the mouth after a bad punt in the October 28, 1978 game against the University of Washington. During the next few weeks, overzealous fans turned things ugly when the insurance office of Rutledge's father suffered a fire and the family's attorney received two death threats.

On October 13, 1979, Kush was fired as head coach, just three hours before the team's home game against Washington, with athletic director Fred Miller citing Kush's alleged attempts to pressure players and coaches into keeping quiet. Kush coached the game, with the Sun Devils pulling off an emotional 12-7 upset of the sixth-ranked Huskies, fueled by the angry crowd incensed by the decision. After the game ended, Kush was carried off the field by his team. The win gave him a 3-2 record on the season, but all three victories were later forfeited when it was determined that Arizona State had used ineligible players.

After nearly two years, Kush would be found not liable in the case, but would be off the sidelines during 1980, the first time in more than 30 years that he had been away from the game. The case itself would have far-reaching implications for coaches everywhere, making them consider the different ways to best motivate and/or punish players. During his time at Arizona State, players were forced to run up a steep hill, dubbed "Mount Kush", when they made a mistake.

Kush returned to the Canadian Football League the following year, serving as head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. In his only season with the team, he lead his squad to an 11-4-1 mark and a berth in the CFL Eastern Conference championship game.

That performance helped Kush return to the United States when the Baltimore Colts hired him in 1982. During the strike-shortened season, the Colts had the dubious record of being the first NFL team since the 1960 Dallas Cowboys to not win a game during the season, finishing 0-8-1.

The Colts improved the following year with a 7-9 record, then moved to Indianapolis during the off-season. After just four wins in 15 games in 1984, Kush quit on December 13, just days before the final game of the season. Citing a desire to be closer to friends and family, Kush accepted a three-year contract with the United States Football League's Arizona Outlaws.

However, the league folded in August 1986, with Kush then living off his personal services contract with Outlaws owner Bill Tatham, Jr. by offering assistance to beginners in a local youth football league, joking, "I'm the highest-paid Pop Warner coach in the country. Kush also used his disciplinarian image to serve as director of the Arizona Boys Ranch, a facility used to reform juvenile offenders.

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