Even in the end, Jerry Frei was working his football magic.
The former Oregon head football coach died Friday at his home in Englewood, Colo., while working on a scouting report for the Denver Broncos. He had suffered from heart and other health related problems.
He compiled a 22-29-4 mark in four years (1967-71) as the Ducks’ head coach. He succeeded Len Casanova at the helm after serving various positions with the football program for more than 17 years, beginning in 1955.
Frei, 76, coached some of the most notable names in Oregon history, including NFL Hall of Famers Dan Fouts and Dave Wilcox, as well as Bobby Moore (Ahmad Rashad) and Bob Newland.
“He gave me a start when no one else gave me any scholarship offers,” said Fouts, now a commentator for ABC’s Monday Night Football. “The relationship with him was always special to me. He was more than a coach, he was a friend and someone you could look up to.”
Frei began his coaching career as an assistant at Portland’s Grant High School after he graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1948.
In a time of much turmoil, Frei was recognized as a coach with great respect and understanding of his teams. Many of his former players held a reunion in 1990 to show their appreciation toward him.
“He was willing to treat us as individual, mature young men,” Fouts said. “We never thought Jerry got enough credit. We wanted him to know how we felt about him.”
Many NCAA and NFL stand-out coaches were assistants under Frei during his tenure at Oregon. Among them were former USC and Los Angeles Rams head coach John Robinson, two-time Super Bowl champion George Seifert (now head coach for the Carolina Panthers) and former Arizona State head coach Bruce Synder.
“The world has lost a great person, a great football coach and a great ally of the game of football as well as the University of Oregon,” current head coach Mike Bellotti said in a released statement. “He was one of the most genuine, nicest individuals from the first time I had ever met him.
“His loss is a tremendous tragedy.”