Hank Foldberg
Encyclopedia
Henry Christian "Hank" Foldberg, Sr. (March 12, 1923 – March 7, 2001) was an American
college and professional football player who became a college football coach. Foldberg played college football for Texas A&M University
and the U.S. Military Academy, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Chicago Hornets and Brooklyn Dodgers
of the All-America Football Conference
(AAFC). He later served as the head football coach of Wichita State University
and Texas A&M University.
in College Station, Texas
, where he played for the Texas A&M Aggies
football team for a single season in 1942. He received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York
, and played tight end
for coach Earl Blaik
's Army Black Knights
football team from 1944 to 1946. Army produced back-to-back undefeated 9–0 records in 1944 and 1945, and the Black Knights were recognized as the Associated Press
national champions following both seasons. As a senior in 1946, Army was again undefeated at at 9–0–1, and Foldberg was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American at tight end
. As a cadet athlete, he also earned varsity letters in lacrosse
and baseball
.
Foldberg resigned from the U.S. Military Academy in 1948, a year short of graduation, citing family financial hardship.
of the National Football League
(NFL) drafted Foldberg in the fifth round (twenty-eighth pick overall) in the 1947 NFL Draft
, but he decided to remain in school at West Point for another year. He played professional football in 1948 and 1949, first with Branch Rickey
's Brooklyn Dodgers of the AAFC in 1948, and then with the AAFC's Chicago Hornets in 1949. In his two seasons as a pro, he played in twenty-five games, and started fifteen, while catching thirty-one passes for 331 yards.
Three teams from the AAFC merged into the NFL in 1950, and the AAFC ceased to exist thereafter.
of Purdue University
in West Lafayette, Indiana
. The following year, he returned to College Station, Texas to become a Texas A&M Aggies assistant. One of Foldberg's former assistant coaches from Army's 1944 and 1945 national championship teams, Bob Woodruff, became the head coach for the Florida Gators football
team of the University of Florida
in Gainesville, Florida
, and invited Foldberg to join the Gators coaching staff in 1952. Foldberg remained one of Woodruff's principal assistants through the 1959 season. Among other duties, Foldberg served as the Gators line coach.
From 1960 to 1961, Foldberg served as the head football coach at the University of Wichita (now Wichita State University
) in Wichita, Kansas
, where his Wichita Shockers teams compiled a 16–5 record in two seasons, and won two consecutive Missouri Valley Conference
championships. After the 1961 regular season, he accepted an offer to become the head football coach and athletic director
at Texas A&M University, telling his Wichita Shockers players that it was the only job for which he would leave leave Wichita. He had previously turned down an offer from the University of Nebraska to coach the Nebraska Cornhuskers football
team. Foldberg's 1961 Shockers were defeated 17–9 by the Villanova Wildcats
in the December 1961 Sun Bowl
.
Foldberg coached the Texas A&M Aggies football team for three seasons from 1962 to 1964. He inherited an Aggies program that had not had a winning season since former Aggies coach Bear Bryant
left for the University of Alabama
after the 1957 season. He was unable to duplicate his successful turnaround of the Wichita Shockers program, compiled an overall record of 6–23–1 as the Aggies head coach, and was replaced by Gene Stallings
after the 1965 season. He resigned as the Aggies' athletic director in July 1965.
Foldberg died at his home in Bella Vista, Arkansas
; he was 77 years old.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
college and professional football player who became a college football coach. Foldberg played college football for Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
and the U.S. Military Academy, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Chicago Hornets and Brooklyn Dodgers
Brooklyn Dodgers (AAFC)
The Brooklyn Dodgers was an American Football team that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1948. The team is unrelated to the Brooklyn Dodgers that played in the National Football League from 1930 to 1943...
of the All-America Football Conference
All-America Football Conference
The All-America Football Conference was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the nation's best players, and introduced many lasting innovations...
(AAFC). He later served as the head football coach of Wichita State University
Wichita State University
Wichita State University is a NCAA Division I public university in Wichita, Kansas with selective admissions. WSU is one of six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The current president is Dr. Donald Beggs....
and Texas A&M University.
College career
Foldberg attended Texas A&M UniversityTexas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
in College Station, Texas
College Station, Texas
College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley. The city is located within the most populated region of Texas, near three of the 10 largest cities in the United States - Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio...
, where he played for the Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M Aggies football
The Texas A&M Aggies football team represents Texas A&M University in college football. The Aggies have competed in the Big 12 Conference since the conference's inception in 1996. They will join the Southeastern Conference in July 2012. Texas A&M football has earned one national title and 18...
football team for a single season in 1942. He received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York
West Point, New York
West Point is a federal military reservation established by President of the United States Thomas Jefferson in 1802. It is a census-designated place located in Town of Highlands in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,138 at the 2000 census...
, and played tight end
Tight end
The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...
for coach Earl Blaik
Earl Blaik
Earl Henry "Red" Blaik was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and United States Army officer. He served as the head football coach at Dartmouth College from 1934 to 1940 and at the United States Military Academy from 1941 to 1958, compiling a career college...
's Army Black Knights
Army Black Knights football
The Army Black Knights football program represents the United States Military Academy. Army was recognized as the national champions in 1944, 1945 and 1946....
football team from 1944 to 1946. Army produced back-to-back undefeated 9–0 records in 1944 and 1945, and the Black Knights were recognized as the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
national champions following both seasons. As a senior in 1946, Army was again undefeated at at 9–0–1, and Foldberg was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American at tight end
Tight end
The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...
. As a cadet athlete, he also earned varsity letters in lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
.
Foldberg resigned from the U.S. Military Academy in 1948, a year short of graduation, citing family financial hardship.
Professional career
The Washington RedskinsWashington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
(NFL) drafted Foldberg in the fifth round (twenty-eighth pick overall) in the 1947 NFL Draft
1947 NFL Draft
The 1947 National Football League Draft was held on December 16, 1946.The National Football League in this draft made the first overall pick a bonus pick determined by lottery. The Chicago Bears won the first lottery...
, but he decided to remain in school at West Point for another year. He played professional football in 1948 and 1949, first with Branch Rickey
Branch Rickey
Wesley Branch Rickey was an innovative Major League Baseball executive elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967...
's Brooklyn Dodgers of the AAFC in 1948, and then with the AAFC's Chicago Hornets in 1949. In his two seasons as a pro, he played in twenty-five games, and started fifteen, while catching thirty-one passes for 331 yards.
Three teams from the AAFC merged into the NFL in 1950, and the AAFC ceased to exist thereafter.
Coaching career
Foldberg's first coaching job was a 1950 assistantship with the Purdue BoilermakersPurdue Boilermakers football
The Purdue Boilermakers football team is the intercollegiate football program of the Purdue University Boilermakers. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I Bowl Subdivision, and the team competes in the Big Ten Conference. The Boilermakers have an all-time record of...
of Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
in West Lafayette, Indiana
West Lafayette, Indiana
As of the census of 2010, there were 29,596 people, 12,591 households, and 3,588 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,381.1 people per square mile . The racial makeup of the city was 74.3% White, 17.3% Asian, 2.7% African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.03% Pacific...
. The following year, he returned to College Station, Texas to become a Texas A&M Aggies assistant. One of Foldberg's former assistant coaches from Army's 1944 and 1945 national championship teams, Bob Woodruff, became the head coach for the Florida Gators football
Florida Gators football
The Florida Gators football team represents the University of Florida in the sport of American football. The Florida Gators compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletics Association and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference...
team of the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
in Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, and invited Foldberg to join the Gators coaching staff in 1952. Foldberg remained one of Woodruff's principal assistants through the 1959 season. Among other duties, Foldberg served as the Gators line coach.
From 1960 to 1961, Foldberg served as the head football coach at the University of Wichita (now Wichita State University
Wichita State University
Wichita State University is a NCAA Division I public university in Wichita, Kansas with selective admissions. WSU is one of six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The current president is Dr. Donald Beggs....
) in Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
, where his Wichita Shockers teams compiled a 16–5 record in two seasons, and won two consecutive Missouri Valley Conference
Missouri Valley Conference
The Missouri Valley Conference is a college athletic conference whose members are located in the midwestern United States...
championships. After the 1961 regular season, he accepted an offer to become the head football coach and athletic director
Athletic director
An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...
at Texas A&M University, telling his Wichita Shockers players that it was the only job for which he would leave leave Wichita. He had previously turned down an offer from the University of Nebraska to coach the Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Nebraska Cornhuskers football
The Nebraska Cornhuskers represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in college football. The program has established itself as a traditional powerhouse, and has the fourth-most all-time victories of any NCAA Division I-A team. Nebraska is one of only six football programs in NCAA Division I-A...
team. Foldberg's 1961 Shockers were defeated 17–9 by the Villanova Wildcats
Villanova Wildcats football
The Villanova Wildcats football program represents Villanova University in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision . The Wildcats play at Villanova Stadium with capacity of 12,500.-History:...
in the December 1961 Sun Bowl
Sun Bowl
The Sun Bowl is an annual U.S. college football bowl game that is usually played at the end of December in El Paso, Texas. The Sun Bowl, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl are the second-oldest bowl games in the country, behind the Rose Bowl...
.
Foldberg coached the Texas A&M Aggies football team for three seasons from 1962 to 1964. He inherited an Aggies program that had not had a winning season since former Aggies coach Bear Bryant
Bear Bryant
Paul William "Bear" Bryant was an American college football player and coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships...
left for the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
after the 1957 season. He was unable to duplicate his successful turnaround of the Wichita Shockers program, compiled an overall record of 6–23–1 as the Aggies head coach, and was replaced by Gene Stallings
Gene Stallings
Eugene Clifton Stallings, Jr. is a former American football player and coach. He played college football at Texas A&M University , where he was one of the "Junction Boys", and later served as the head coach at his alma mater from 1965 to 1971. Stallings was also the head coach of the St...
after the 1965 season. He resigned as the Aggies' athletic director in July 1965.
Life after football
Folberg was married to the former Margaret Smith, and they had a son and a daughter. After he left the coaching profession, he entered the real estate business in Arkansas. Foldberg's son, Hank Foldberg, Jr., later played tight end for the Florida Gators football team from 1971 to 1973.Foldberg died at his home in Bella Vista, Arkansas
Bella Vista, Arkansas
Bella Vista is a city in Benton County, Arkansas. It previously was the largest unincorporated community in the state of Arkansas; however, in November 2006 it voted to incorporate and form a municipality. The Bella Vista Property Owners Association estimates that there are currently 24,000...
; he was 77 years old.
Head coaching record
See also
- 1946 College Football All-America Team1946 College Football All-America TeamThe 1946 College Football All-America team was composed of college football players selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers...
- Army Black KnightsArmy Black KnightsArmy Black Knights is the name of the athletics teams of the United States Military Academy. They participate in NCAA Division I-A as a non-football member of the Patriot League, a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision independent school, and a member of Atlantic Hockey, the Collegiate Sprint...
- Florida GatorsFlorida GatorsThe Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...
- Florida Gators football, 1950–1959
- List of United States Military Academy alumni
- Texas A&M AggiesTexas A&M AggiesTexas A&M Aggies refers to the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname "Aggie" is common at land-grant or "Ag" schools in many states. The teams compete in Division I of NCAA sports...