Longtime college and NFL coach Phil Krueger, who won a national title at USC and was the first general manager of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, died at his home on Monday, his family said. at the Associated Press on Saturday.
© 2020 Getty Images
DRESDEN, GERMANY – JUNE 23: Players of the German German soccer team Dresden Monarchs in action during a training session at the Baernsdorfer Strasse stadium on June 23, 2020 in Dresden, Germany. (Photo by Thomas Eisenhuth / Getty Images)
He was 90 years old.
Krueger served as a defensive assistant with the USC from 1966 to 1970, and helped lead them to the national title in 1967 while going 10-1. He has also served as an assistant coach in Illinois and a head coach in both Fresno and Utah. He has compiled a 21-12 record in three seasons with the Aggies.
He made the jump to the NFL when the league developed in 1976, joining the staff of John McKay in Tampa Bay – the same coach he served at USC. They only went 2-26 in their first two seasons, but the team reached the NFC title match in 1979.
Krueger later became assistant to owner Hugh Culverhouse in 1981, and was hired as the team’s first general manager in 1991. He remained in this position for only one season.
The Illinois native, who himself played soccer in southeastern Missouri, was the army’s first lieutenant and won the bronze star during the Korean War, according to the Associated Press.
He is survived by his wife, Kathy, daughter Kristi and two grandchildren.
“Phil Krueger was tough … the reason I couldn’t get a high school date (that’s my story), but my friends loved ‘Big Phil’ and he liked them,” wrote Kristi on Facebook, in part. “Dad was a brilliant writer and the reason I love poetry. You loved Oliver Wendell Holmes, dad, because you were the last leaf on the tree. TEAR.”
More from Yahoo Sports:
Continue reading
