LOGAN, Utah – John Ralston, who coached Utah State from 1959-62, died at the age of 92 on Saturday, Sept. 14, in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Born in Oakland, Calif., Ralston spent much of a long coaching career in the Bay Area, but he first became a college head coach at Utah State in 1959. During his time with the Aggies, Ralston went 31-11-1, leading USU to back-to-back bowl games, the 1960 Sun and 1961 Gotham, respectively.
Ralston's 1961 squad is the last team in Utah State history to go undefeated during the regular season as the Aggies produced a 9-0-1 mark before losing to Baylor, 24-9, in the Gotham Bowl, which was played at the Polo Grounds in New York City. Tackle Merlin Olsen was a consensus first-team All-American and won the 1961 Outland Trophy as the country's top lineman.
Olsen was one of 11 Aggie players coached by Ralston who went on to play in the NFL, joining Buddy Allen, Clyde Brock, Mike Connelly, Doug Mayberry, Clark Miller, Mel Montalbo, Bill Munson, Len Rohde, Jim Turner and Rich Zecher.
Ralston, who led the Aggies to a pair of conference championships, has the second-best winning percentage (.733) in Utah State coaching history, trailing only Fred M. Walker, who went 11-2 (.846) in his two seasons at the helm (1907-08). He also has the fourth-most wins in school history.
Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1992, Ralston was a member of the 2007 Utah State Athletics Hall of Fame. He was hired to coach Stanford in 1963, and his Cardinal teams won consecutive Pac-8 titles and the Rose Bowl following the 1970 and 1971 regular seasons.
Ralston left the college ranks for the NFL in 1972 and in his five seasons with Denver, he led the Broncos to a 34-33-3 mark. He later coached the Oakland Invaders of the United States Football League from 1983-84 and at San José State from 1993-96.
Ralston served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the South Pacific during World War II, achieving the rank of corporal before attending school at Cal, where he was a linebacker, playing in two Rose Bowls under coach Pappy Waldorf.
Among the prominent coaches who worked for Ralston were Super Bowl winners Bill Walsh and Dick Vermeil, along with Jim Mora Sr. and Mike White. Tony Knap, his former assistant, succeeded Ralston at Utah State, coaching the Aggies to 25-14-1 mark over the next four seasons.
Fans can follow the Aggie football program at twitter.com/USUFootball or on Facebook at Utah State Football, as well as on Instagram at instagram.com/USUFootball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.
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