Former Iowa football coach Evashevski, led Hawkeyes to Rose Bowl wins, dead at 91

Former Iowa football coach Evashevski dies at 91

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Forest Evashevski, the former Michigan football star coached Iowa to two Rose Bowl victories in the 1950s, has died. He was 91.

Evashevski’s son, Forest Evashevski Jr., said Saturday that his father died Friday night from cancer at his home in Petoskey, Mich.

Evashevski said his father’s seven children, including five sons and two daughters, and wife Ruth, were at his bedside when he died.

Evashevski, the captain of Michigan’s 1940 team, was hired at Iowa in 1952, seven years after Iowa’s last winning season. He inherited a program that had languished in the bottom of the Big Ten.

But by 1956 the Hawkeyes were in the Rose Bowl, defeating Oregon State 35-19. They went again in the 1958 season, beating California 38-12. Evashevski won 52 games at Iowa, where he coached until 1960. He also led the team to three Big Ten championships.

In 2006, Evashevski told The Associated Press in an interview that he took satisfaction in knowing his work during the 1950s helped create an atmosphere and expectation of success at Iowa.

“But I just hope I had some influence on young men being good citizens,” said Evashevski, who also served 10 years as the school’s athletic director.

Evashevski was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000.