Bob Reade is a former American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player and coach. He served as the head coach at Augustana College

Augustana College (Illinois)

Augustana College is a private liberal arts college located in Rock Island, Illinois, United States. The college enrolls approximately 2,500 students. Covering of hilly, wooded land, Augustana is adjacent to the Mississippi River...

 in Rock Island, Illinois

Rock Island, Illinois

Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...

 from 1979 to 1994, compiling a record of 146–23–1. His Augustana Vikings won four consecutive NCAA Division III National Football Championship

NCAA Division III national football championship

The NCAA Division III National Football Championship began in 1973. Before 1973, most of the schools now in Division III competed in the NCAA's former "College Division"....

s from 1983 and 1986 and were runners-up in 1982. Reade's teams went unbeaten for 60 straight games (59 wins, one tie) between the start of the 1983 season and the second round of the 1987 NCAA Division III playoffs, when Augustana lost to Dayton, 38–36. This remains the record for the longest unbeaten streak in NCAA Division III football history. Reade's teams won or shared 12 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin is a college athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Its member teams are located in Illinois and Wisconsin. CCIW schools have won 35 Division III national championships since 1973. The conference was founded in 1946 as the...

 championships and he was named conference Coach of the Year nine times (1981, 1983–1987, 1990, 1993–1994). This award is now named in his honor. Reade was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame

College Football Hall of Fame

The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...

 as a coach in 1998.

Playing career

Reade played football as a linebacker

Linebacker

A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...

 at Cornell College

Cornell College

Cornell College is a private liberal arts college in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Originally called the Iowa Conference Seminary, the school was founded in 1853 by Reverend Samuel M. Fellows...

 in Mount Vernon, Iowa

Mount Vernon, Iowa

Mount Vernon is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, adjacent to the city of Lisbon. The city's population was 3,390 when the 2000 census figures were released, but that number was later revised to 3,808 because the Census Bureau had incorrectly reported that 418 residents of a Cornell...

, from which he graduated in 1954.

Coaching career

Reade was the head football coach at J. D. Darnall High School

Geneseo High School

Geneseo High School is located in Geneseo, Illinois, USA. The school is part of the Geneseo Community Unit School District 228, which covers Geneseo, Atkinson, and parts of Colona. The school is well known for its strong football program, the Geneseo Maple Leafs, also known as the Green Machine...

 in Geneseo, Illinois

Geneseo, Illinois

Geneseo is a city in Henry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,586 at the 2010 census, up from 6,571 at the 2000 census. Geneseo is located 20 miles east of The Quad Cities and Geneseo is part of the Quad Cities Metro Area....

 from 1962 to 1978, compiling a record of 146–21–4. In 1993, Reade authored a booked titled Coaching Football Successfully (ISBN 087322518X), for which Penn State

Penn State Nittany Lions football

The Penn State Nittany Lions football team represents the Pennsylvania State University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference. It is one of the most tradition-rich and storied college football programs in the...

's Joe Paterno

Joe Paterno

Joseph Vincent "Joe" Paterno is a former college football coach who was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for 46 years from 1966 through 2011. Paterno, nicknamed "JoePa," holds the record for the most victories by an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision football coach with...

 wrote the forward.

College

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