'Rip' Engle New Gridiron Coach
. ‘ - • - . .. ■ " ■-
is W\}t iintly '-ass*
J ' -FOR A BETTER PENN STATE"
VOL. 50 NO. 123
Coached
Rip'
Football Since
Nittahy Coach ‘‘Rip” Engle, winged-T exponent who is
on campus today to view the Duquesne football scrimmage,
never played football until he entered Western Maryland
College.
There he played his only :
Penn State alumnus, by filling
1930 Western Maryland team
which won 11 and lost none.
Engle won three letters under
Harlow and also captained the
baseball and basketball teams in
his undergraduate years:
Head coach at Brown Univer
sity, Providence, 1t.1., since 1944,
Engle produced a team last year
that suffered just one defeat,
27-14, to Princeton. Brown vic
tims were Holy Cross. 28-6;
Rhode Island, 46-0; Lehigh, 48-0;
•Western • Reserve, 28-14; Yale,
14-0; Harvard, 28-14; Columbia,.
16-7; Colgate, 41-26.
Uncle "Dad"
As a native of Pennsylvania,
Engle knew much about Penn
State and was especially interest
ed' in its football teams because
bis uncle, Lloyd P. “Dad” Engle,
was a stand-out member of Lion
elevens in 1910, 1911 and 1912.
“Dad" played the fullback posi
tion for two years, then filled the
tackle post as the Lions posted an
unbeaten, untied season in 1912.
Dick Harlow, who was later to
figure in Engle’s, career, was an
assistant coach on the Lion staff.
“Dad” Engle is still living and in
1944 celebrated his silver anni
versary as a county farm agent in
Greene County.
Upon graduation from Western
Maryland in 1930, Engle accepted
a position at Waynesboro (Pa.)
High School as head football
coach and an instructor in mathe
matics. During his 11 years at
Waynesboro, he produced three
unbeaten, untied elevens, won
eight conference titles, and from
1933 to 1940 lost only ten football
games.
In 1941, he returned to his alma
Brown U.
1944
football under Dick Harlow, a
an end post and captaining the
mater to study for his master’s,
degree, meanwhile accepting po
sitions as coach of the freshman
football team and coach of the
(Continued on page four)
NEW COACH of the Nittany Lion grid machine Charles A. “Rip”
Engle, Brown University mentor since 1944, receives, congratula
tions from feting President James Milholland who announced the
appointment at a special luncheon today.
STATE COLLEGE, PA., SATURDAY MORNING, APRIL 22, 1950
Winged-T Pioneer Named
To Succeed Joe Bedenk
Penn State today secured a new football coach.
He is Chaples A. “Rip” Engle, Brown University coach since 1944. Engle succeeds Jos
eph Bedenk, who resigned March 4 after one year at the Lion helm.
In choosing Engle, the College forsook a 20-year tradition of alumnus head grid coaches
and abandoned the single wing style of offense.
Appointment, of the 41-year-old winged-T exponent was announced late this morning by
James Milholland, acting
president, at a luncheon in the
Nittany Lion Inn. Attending
were members of the Athletic
Advisory 1 Board, the athletic
coaching staff and the press. In
announcing the appointment, Mil
holland added that the College
Trustees are in accord with the
Athletic Advisory Board’s recom
mendation pf Engle, the ,first
non-alumnus to head Penn State
football since 1929.
On campus today to meet
Famous Grid
Quotes
"A penny saved _ won't win
ball games."
—B. Franklin
Bridge Tourney
An additional call for entries
in the annual Interfraternity
bridge'tourney was issued yester
day by David Ludwig, tourney
master. All houses not entered
which desire to do so may . con
tact Ludwig at Alpha Chi Sigma.
Each house may enter two pairs
of players, and tourney rules will
be sent to entries.
Alpha Delta Sig Smoker
Earl Gaines, advertising direc
tor of the Pittsburgh Press, will
be guest speaker at the Alpha
Delta Sigma srpoker tomorrow at
7:30 p.m. at the Phi Gamma Delta
house.
athletic officials and administra
tive officers. Coach. Engle will
also watch this afternoon's
scrimmage session with Du
quesne, at 2 o'clock on Beaver
field. After the scrimmage,
which closes the spring training
season, he will consult . with
members of< the squad and
coaching staff.
A native of Salisbury. Pa.,
Engle enjoyed outstanding suc
cess at Brown during the past
two seasons. His teams won 15
out of their last 18 games, and
Football
Tougher,
Says Engle
By TOM MORGAN
“It’s getting tougher and tough
er to win these days because so
many schools are trying' harder
and harder to win more than
their share of the games. That’s
why the really outstanding rec
ords are coming scarce.”
Speaking was "Rip" Engle,
newly - appointed 42-year-old
' Lion football coach whose hair
is prematurely white, but per
haps not from the rigors of
coaching since his 1948 Brown
University team won seven and
lost two to bring the school its
best record since 1932, and his
'49 team copped eight and drop
ped one. However, he contin
ued:
“Today in football you can be
sure your opponents are trying
just as hard, maybe even harder.”
The new Nittany coach, who
handles an interview with the
finesse of an Eisenhower, liken
ed the keen competitive coaching
“racket” to a story of ah old roost
er who was quite satisfied, even
proud, about the weekly per
formance of all the barnyard hens
in laying a full complement of
full-blown eggs. Then a farmer
boy kicked a' football over the
fence and into the barnyard. The
rooster spied the football, turned
to his coterie and declared:
"You hens know how I ap- •
predate your enthusiastic work
in producing fine big eggs, but
just lake a look at how they're
raising them in the next yard."
At Brown, Engle spent his first
two years as head coach, ’44 and
’45, in perfecting the winged-T
from which his teams operate al
most exclusively. He was rated
one of the pioneers in this type
of offense. Last year he experi
mented with, the two-platoon sys
tem, using offensive and defen
sive men in eight or nine posts.
Explaining the winged-T, En
gle said, "You can call it a
simple combination of . the T
and single wing, and we always
use a balanced line with it."
He added that he anticipates
little trouble in “switching the
boys over” from the Penn State
unbalanced single wing used here
tofore. “Our most important
(Continued on page four)
PRICE FIVE CENTS
only Princeton was able to stop
his offense last year.
TO ADD COACHES
The new coach indicated that
he would probably add two mem
bers to the Nittany Lion coaching
staff, but said that he had not yet
made his selections. He also said
that he planned to retain the
present members of the Penn
State staff.
He added that he will report to
Penn State for permanent duty
on May 1.
Engle, who never played foot
ball until he entered Western
Maryland, where he played end
and captained Dick Harlow’s un
beaten team of 1930, coached foV
11 years at Waynesboro High
School before returning I to his
alma mater as freshman football
coach and varsity basketball
coach.
He joined the Brown staff, in
1942 as an assistant coach, mov
ing up to the top job in 1944.
WING-T PIONEER
As a pioneer with the winged-T
type of offense, his Brown teams
moved steadily ahead and a 7-2
record in 1948 gave the Provi
dence, R. 1., institution its best
season since 1932.
Last year, his team piled up 263
points to the opposition’s 94, post
ing a record of ,eight wins and one
loss.
Engle is married to Mary Web
ber Broughton, and. their only
child, Charles 8., is a high school
sophomore.
■ The new coach is a nephew of
Lloyd P. “Dad” Engle, one of
Penn Statens standouts on the un
beaten football team of 1912, and
county farm agent in Green
county, Pa., for the last 31 years.
Penn State will lose 14 letter
men by graduation in June and
its 1950 football outlook is not
considered, very bright.
dday . . .
The Nittany Lion Roars
FOR Dean Carl P. Schott,
President James Milholland and
the Athletic Advisory Board,
who've come up with a crack
er jack choice as Penn State's
new wielder of the football
reins.
And a ripping good roar for
the Coach himself, "Rip" Engle,
who's here today. Although this
winged-T's new .to us after a
long diet of single wing, we'll
easily grow attached to it as the
"Rip's" system develops suc
cessfully in the ol' Lair.