DeGroot, Dudley S.
Football, Rugby, Swimming
b. Nov. 10, 1899, Chicago, IL
d. May 5, 1970
DeGroot participated in a unique combination of four sports at Stanford: Basketball, football, swimming, and water polo. He was the IC4A backstroke champion in 1923 and 1924, Stanford's football captain in 1922, and a member of the U. S. rugby team that won an Olympic gold medal in 1924.
He became head football coach at San Jose State in 1932 and compiled a 59-19-8 record in 8 seasons there. His 1939 team won all 13 of its games, outscoring the opposition 324 to 29. DeGroot had a 24-6-0 record at the University of Rochester from 1940 through 1943 and then took over the NFL's Washington Redskins.
The Redskins won the Eastern Division title in 1945 but lost 15-14 to the Cleveland Rams in the NFL championship game. DeGroot then went to the Los Angeles Dons of new All-America Football Conference and had a 14-12-2 record in 2 seasons there.
He returned to college coaching at West Virginia University in 1948 and 1949, producing a 13-9-1 record, and he had a 13-17-0 record at the University of New Mexico from 1950 through 1952.