Joe Yukica 1931-2022

Joe Yukica, who coached New Hampshire, Boston College and Dartmouth from 1966-86 and quickly improved the fortunes of all three programs, died recently at the age of 90. Having worked in Dartmouth's backyard for more than 15 years, I heard many stories about Yukica, particularly concerning his messy departure from the Big Green. (Long story short: He was asked to resign in 1985 with a year left on his contract, he took Dartmouth to court and got JOE PATERNO to testify on his behalf; in the end, Yukica was allowed to coach Dartmouth in '86 and finish his contract.) 

My old Valley News colleague Jim Kenyon, who covered the Big Green in the '80s, wrote this excellent profile on him a few years ago.

Anyway, I thought I'd take a look at the uniforms of Yukica's teams, as he made significant sartorial changes to all of his teams upon taking over. Much of this has been repeated elsewhere on this little ol' blog, so you'll have to bear with any redundant redundancies. 

New Hampshire, coming off a winless 1965, hired Yukica from Bob Blackman's staff at Dartmouth, where he coached the Big Green ends for five seasons. 

Yukica turned the Wildcats around, going 2-6 in 1966 and ending an 11-game losing streak in week three (against Maine ... of course). The '67 bunch improved to 5-3, with the losses coming by a combined nine points, causing the Granite yearbook to comment that students "may even come to realize what a rally should be like. The first one last fall was so poorly attended that the students barely outnumbered the players." (Of course, this was 1967, and students were too busy concerning themselves with evil and social injustice to worry about a little ol' football team.)

A 1966 article from The New Hampshire student paper
introduces Wildcat fans to Joe Yukica.

New Hampshire ends a long losing streak against Maine in '66.

The uniforms underwent some modifications from '65's winless team, most notably with the road jerseys, which lost the contrasting blue sleeves. The helmet numbers, meanwhile, were moved to the sides from the back. (In '66, the numbers were only on the right side of the helmets.) In fact, the uniform has a very Penn State look to it. Care to guess where Yukica played his college ball? Judging by photos I've seen, the striped socks weren't worn as much as the short, white models.

After Yukica engineered such a quick turnaround in Durham, it was only a matter of time before a bigger school came calling, and he took the 75-mile trip south to Boston College, coming off back-to-back four-win seasons. Yukica won six games his first season at The Heights, and had only one losing season in 10 years while going 68-37. Yukica also upgraded the Eagles' schedule, adding meatier fare such as Texas and Notre Dame after BC had spent years playing small Jesuit schools like Detroit Mercy and Marquette, both of whom dropped the sport in the '60s.

A sampling of Boston College's uniforms during the Yukica era.

The BC uniforms under predecessor Jim Miller (1962-67) had a USC look to them: Red shirts with big, yellow numbers and thick, yellow-and-white stripes. Yellow (or, if some of you prefer, gold) pants complete the look. In 1966-67, the jerseys had a uniform number on one sleeve and an eagle on the other. In '68, Yukica went to a very plain design with jerseys that look more at home on a practice field. Like the schedule, those eventually got an upgrade and evolved into the style very similar to those used in the Flutie years.

A Boston College punter boots away in '68.

BC coach Yukica and quarterback Frank Harris
chat in the locker room after a 1970 win over Holy Cross. This and
the photo the top of this post come from Digital Commonwealth, one of the best
time-killers you'll ever find. Note the plainness of the BC jersey.

By '77, the jerseys fairly resembled the versions
from the '80s glory years.

BC's lack of bowl bids and a 1977 loss to hated Holy Cross had the alumni howling, and Yukica turned down a new contract offer from BC to take the top job at Dartmouth — a curious decision, as the Ivy League was well on its way toward what eventually became Division I-AA/FCS as BC was returning to the national scene. 

Dartmouth hits pay dirt in 1978 against Boston U. ...

... and thwarts Brown QB and future coach Mark Whipple (5).

While Dartmouth was a winner under predecessor Jake Crouthamel, the Big Green hadn't won an Ivy title since 1973 and Crouthamel left after '77 to become athletic director at Syracuse (where he was partially responsible for the creation of the Carrier Dome and the Big East Conference, y'know, nothing too big).

Although the Boston Globe picked Dartmouth to finish fifth in the Ivies in '78, the Big Green shocked the world — OK, maybe just a few Northeast hamlets — by winning the Ancient Eight title outright behind the arm of quarterback Buddy Teevens (who succeeded Yukica as coach in 1987), the legs of running back Jeff Dufresne (730 yards, eight TDs) and the hands of receiver Dave Shula (49 catches, 656 yards). 

The 1978 Dartmouth commemorative book.

Inside the book, a bio of Yukica and a portrait of his staff.

The Blackman-Crouthamel uniforms, with super-sized numbers on the jerseys, had been unchanged since the 1960s, except for the "D" replacing the Native American head on the shirt sleeves. While Yukica kept the classic helmets in '78, the rest of the uniform was more streamlined, with smaller numbers and more stripes on the sleeves and socks, all capped with black trim. This look was used until Yukica's departure in '86.

Not the best picture, but Joe Yukica's final game
as a head coach, a 28-6 thumping of Princeton, 
graced the front page of the Valley News in 1986.