Athletes - Mike Kruczek

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	Athletes - Mike Kruczek

Michael Kruczek is a former college football coach of the University of Central Florida. He was an all-America American football quarterback at Boston College and won two Super Bowl rings while a back-up quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Born March 15, 1953 in Washington, D.C., Kruczek earned All-America in 1975 as a quarterback at Boston College where he set several B.C. passing and total offense records. He was selected in the second round of the 1976 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers and played in 29 games for them from 1976–1979 and was a member of Super Bowl championship squads in 1978 and 1979.

Kruczek distinguished himself in the NFL as a rookie in 1976 when he stepped into the lineup for an injured Terry Bradshaw and led the Steelers to six consecutive victories en route to the AFC title game. This record for wins as rookie stood until 2004 (When it was surpassed by another Steeler, Ben Roethlisberger. He concluded his NFL career in 1980 with the Washington Redskins.

Kruczek began his coaching career as an assistant with the University of Central Florida Golden Knights. He worked his way up the coaching ladder until he was named UCF's head coach in 1998. Kruczek's run as coach benefitted from the fact that he inherited future NFL Pro Bowl quarterback Daunte Culpepper as a recruit from the previous regime. Culpepper led the then fledgling Division 1-A program to its biggest successes, including an upset win over the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2000 that remains UCF's only victory over a major 1-A program. Following Culpepper's departure for the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL in 2001, UCF joined the Mid American Conference as a football-only member with the team predicted by many to win the MAC's Eastern Division championship. After a successful debut season in 2002 in which UCF finished second in the MAC East, UCF struggled mightily in 2003. Starting quarterback Ryan Schneider was dismissed from the team for academic violations and UCF struggled to a 3 and 4 record. After a humiliating loss to MAC bottom dweller Eastern Michigan, Kruczek was fired despite having signed a three-year contract extension at the start of the season. Kruczek was replaced by George O'Leary and UCF went winless in 2004 with much of the blame falling on Kruczek's poor recruiting and lax disciplinary standards.

Kruczek and his wife, Leigh, have two children; daughter Kelly and son Garrett—and reside in Chandler, Arizona where he coaches quarterbacks for the Arizona Cardinals.

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