LOGAN, Utah — Former Utah State football standout, athletics director and Hall of Famer Dave Kragthorpe died Sunday at age 93, ending a career in college athletics that began in Logan more than seven decades ago.
Kragthorpe and his wife, Barbara, had been living in an assisted living facility in Montgomery, Texas, near their grandson, Christopher. A fall several weeks ago contributed to his passing.
A native of Minnesota, Kragthorpe came to Logan in the early 1950s and played football at Utah State from 1951-54. A two-way tackle, he earned All-Skyline Conference Eight honors twice and was later selected to Utah State’s All-Century football team.
Kragthorpe also spent two seasons as a catcher for the Aggies’ baseball team.
He graduated from Utah State in 1955 with bachelor’s degrees in physical education and recreation education. After serving two years in the U.S. Navy, Kragthorpe later returned to USU and earned a master’s degree in secondary education in 1963.
The New York Giants selected Kragthorpe in the 16th round of the 1955 NFL draft, and he played one season with the team.
His coaching career eventually took him from the high school ranks to several college programs. Kragthorpe coached at Idaho Falls High School in Idaho and was a head coach at Roosevelt High School in Michigan before serving as an assistant at Montana in 1965 and 1966.
He spent the next two seasons as an assistant at South Dakota State before becoming the program’s head coach in 1969.
Kragthorpe returned to Utah in 1970, joining the BYU coaching staff. He served in several roles during the next decade, including assistant head coach, offensive line coach and offensive coordinator under former Utah State teammate LaVell Edwards.
He became Idaho State’s head coach in 1980, and one year later led the Bengals to the greatest season in program history.
Idaho State finished 12-1 in 1981, won the Big Sky Conference championship and hosted two playoff victories before winning the NCAA Division I-AA national championship in Texas. The Bengals outscored their opponents 422-172 that season.
Kragthorpe went 21-14 during three seasons at Idaho State.
He returned to Logan in 1983, stepping away from coaching to become Utah State’s athletics director.
His time in administration was relatively brief. Kragthorpe returned to the sidelines in 1985 as head coach at Oregon State, taking over a program that had struggled for years.
Kragthorpe spent six seasons with the Beavers and was named Pac-10 Conference Coach of the Year in 1989 after Oregon State finished 4-7-1. Among the players he coached at Oregon State was future BYU, Virginia and Utah State head coach Bronco Mendenhall.
Kragthorpe returned to Utah State again in 1994, when the university’s Alumni Association hired him to help resurrect its alumni chapters program.
His ties to USU continued throughout his life. Kragthorpe was a member of the Old Main Society, Alumni Sustaining Membership program, Big Blue Scholarship Fund and Emeriti Association.
Utah State honored him with its Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2005. Four years later, he was inducted into the Utah State Athletics Hall of Fame.
