By Larry Larsen
Joe Yukica / Fred Orkin
Eastman’s Joe Yukica is a legend in the world of American football. He and his wife, Betty, bought their home here in 1990. At 87 years old, he still has the physical profile of a man whose life has been in athletics. A tall, quiet, self-effacing man, he tells the story of his life in a matter-of-fact way. Joe’s coaching career spanned 33 years, beginning in a small steel mill town, Midland, PA. During his senior year in high school, he tried out for the varsity football team for the first time and quickly became a standout tight end. His performance was so remarkable that he earned a scholarship to Pennsylvania State University where he played for four years while earning a Bachelor of Arts in history and education. At that time, the legendary Joe Paterno was an assistant coach. Following his graduation from Penn State, Joe coached at his alma mater for one year while a graduate student in a Master of Arts program that allowed him to teach.
He then coached high school football for six years. His teams did very well and their success led to his being recognized for his coaching ability. Joe tried new strategies, had a philosophy of playing his best players, and established his teams as being competitive. After a brief coaching sojourn at Westchester State College in Pennsylvania, he was recruited by Dartmouth as an offensive ends coach. In 1966, the University of New Hampshire hired him as head football coach.
Then, a New England Coach of the Year honor caught the attention of Boston College (BC) that hired Joe as varsity mentor. Later, with Joe as head coach at the Chestnut Hill, MA school, the Eagles flourished, playing nationally recognized teams. Joe remembers his finest moment as a victory over the Texas Longhorns. BC triumphed, and the front page of the Boston Globe heralded the score, BC 14 – Texas 13. “Beating Texas was a great moment,” he reminisces.
Re-enter Dartmouth onto his résumé. The Hanover school hired Joe as head coach in 1978. Three Ivy League championships in 1978, 1979, and 1981 followed. After difficult back-to-back seasons in 1984 and 1985, he was asked to resign by a recently hired athletic director. Although offered termination compensation based on his contract, Joe chose to sue Dartmouth. The case never went to trial and Dartmouth settled out of court. The preliminary hearings included testimony by Joe Paterno. Joe Yukica coached at Dartmouth one more year before retiring from coaching football.
When asked what makes a great coach, Joe does not hesitate. “You’ve got to win. It’s learning when and how you win.” He wanted to see his players upset when they lost. “I don’t want to hear laughter after a loss. I want to see faces that are remorseful.”
Recruiting is a big part of coaching life, and Joe explains, “You look for physical traits and you look at skills. For some positions you want speed, and others strength. Then you begin to think about something called ‘attitude.’ You ask ‘Is this kid overly cocky?’ or ‘Is this someone that’s gonna feel sorry for himself ’?”
Calls still come from former players. “How you doing, Coach?” they say. He remembers many of them and is especially proud of his 1978 quarterback, Buddy Teevens, who is Dartmouth’s head coach today. Joe has a season ticket, and he can be found at every Dartmouth home game.
Of his 33 coaching years, 21 were in high profile college football. He’s been associated with “the greats.” His friendship with Joe Paterno spanned many years. “He would stay at my house when he was here, and I would stay at his house when I was in Pennsylvania. He was a good man. He was a fine man.” Character has always mattered to the Eastman resident.
After leaving Dartmouth, Joe felt he had had enough of high-profile coaching. He and his wife, Betty, sold real estate for a while. “I retired from that too,” he said. Betty passed away in 2014, and Joe says that the house is lonely. “I can’t cook; I want to get out of the house,” he said. Most evenings when the Bistro Nouveau at The Center at Eastman is open, Joe can be found visiting with folks around him and eating a meal he didn’t cook. Although having a few physical ailments, including arthritis in his hands, he plays a few rounds of golf a week. “My grip is pretty good, and I can still hit the ball a long way, but not as much as I used to.” Joe’s eyes lit up when he described winning an occasional pot put together by one of the golfing groups with which he plays.
Joe’s Hall of Fame plaque / Fred Orkin
As for the sport that defined his life for three decades, when asked if he would do it all over again, he answered quickly. “Positively, positively I would. I have known some great kids. I always loved the people I worked with. You can’t do better than that.”
But, some folks thought Joe could do better than that. In 2017, they inducted Joe Yukica into the Lou Holtz/Upper Ohio Valley Hall of Fame.
Larry Larsen is a regular contributor to Eastman Living and lifelong football fan. He lived the Friday Night Lights life in Amarillo, TX where his father coached All-State teams.
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