Alex Agase

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Alex Agase
Date of birth	March 27, 1922 (age 85)
Place of birth	Chicago, IL
Position(s)	Offensive guard, Linebacker
College	University of Illinois, Purdue
NFL Draft	1944 / Round 8/ Pick 71
Honors	College Football HOF
Statistics	DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1947 1947 1948-1951 1953	Chicago Rockets Los Angeles Dons Cleveland Browns Baltimore Colts
College Hall of Fame

Alexander Arrasi Agase (born March 27, 1922 in Chicago, Illinois) is a former American football player and coach.

Agase was born to an Assyrian family, that immigrated from Iran. He graduated from Evanston Township High School in Evanston, Illinois.

Agase played college football at the University of Illinois and Purdue University. Agase starred as a guard for Illinois in 1941 and 1942. In a 1942 game against the University of Minnesota, Agase scored two touchdowns for the Fighting Illini, becoming only the second guard in college football to score two touchdowns in a single game. That year, Agase was named All-American for the first time. In 1943, Agase played at Purdue while a Marine trainee, and was again named All-American. In 1944 and 1945, Agase served in active duty in World War II, including participating in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He returned to Illinois in 1946 and was again named All-American, and also received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the Most Valuable Player of the Big Ten Conference.

Agase moved to professional football, playing six seasons between 1947 and 1953. Three of Agase's teams with the Cleveland Browns won championships. After his playing career ended, Agase moved into coaching. Agase served as the head coach for Northwestern University from 1964 to 1972. In 1970, Agase was named the national coach of the year by the Football Writers Association. In 1973, Agase became the head coach at Purdue, one of the two schools for which he played, and coached through the 1976 season.

Agase became the athletic director at Eastern Michigan University in 1977, and served in that role until 1981. Agase later remained active in college football by assisting Bo Schembechler as a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Michigan.

Agase's outstanding play continued to be honored long after his playing career ended. Agase was named to the Walter Camp Foundation all-century team in 1989 and the University of Illinois all-century team in 1990. Agase was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1963.

Preceded by Ara Parseghian	Northwestern Wildcats Head Coaches 1964–1972	Succeeded by John Pont
Preceded by Bo Schembechler	Paul "Bear" Bryant Award 1970	Succeeded by Bob Devaney
Preceded by Bob DeMoss	Purdue Boilermakers Head Coaches 1973–1976	Succeeded by Jim Young

[edit] External links

• College Football Hall of Fame bio
• Career Statistics at databasefootball.com