Rose Poly and Me
By Carl T. Herakovich
- Release Date: 2019-10-09
- Genre: Science and Tech Bios & Memoirs
Description
Author discusses his time as an engineering student and football player (1955-59), and then football coach, track coach, athletic director, instructor and then assistant professor of civil engineering at Rose Polytechnic Institute (now Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology) (1962-64). As a football player in 1958, he led the nation in scoring with 168 points in 8 games. Sixty-two years later, the 168 points continues to be the record for points in a season by an Indiana college football player. His 21.0 points per game were the national record for thirty years (1958-88) until broken by Barry Sanders of Oklahoma State. In 1957 and 1958, the Rose Poly football team won fifteen games in a row over two seasons while the defense held opponents to 5.4 points per game. In 1958, the team led the NCAA Division II in defense holding opponents to 95.8 yards per game and a total of 31 points (3.9 points per game). As the football coach, he rescued the team from a disastrous previous year in which the team lost all of its games and scored only six points. The author concludes with his afterthoughts on his alma mater after a career of more than 60 years in engineering education
Reviews
Rose Poly and Me
5By cbyrtinI found Carl’s memoir has on his days at Rose Polytechnic Inst. (now Rose-Hulman Inst. of Technology) to be a very good read. Rose fans may well recognize that Carl Herakovich played several sports while at Rose. He led coach Phil Brown’s undefeated 1958 football team to the #1 small college team ranking in the nation. Carl scored 168 points in 8 games. The football team had a 15 game winning streak that started in the 1957 season. Carl was the nation’s leading scorer in the 1958 season. (Coach Brown had another nation’s leading scorer - Eddie McGovern - in the early 1940’s). Carl talks about his school days at Rose, how he met his wife, his post graduate education, his teaching days at Rose and his tenure as Rose’s head football coach. Carl also held influential academic positions at VPI (Virginia Tech) and the University of Virginia. Carl was driven to succeed in all of his endeavors - in schools, sports, his marriage and his work. He genuinely gives credit to those who helped him do his best and accepts responsibility for shortcomings. Carl also discusses the position of Rose in academia and, based upon his academic experiences, offers suggestions that, if implemented, may well be beneficial to Rose. It was my pleasure to serve as an equipment manager on Carl’s football and track team during the 1963/1964 school year. So, if you think I may be a bit biased towards Carl; you are right. J W Katzbeck Class of 1967
