July 5, 2006
By Shawn Harrison, Logan Herald Journal
(Story courtesy of Logan Herald Journal)
Some consider Ralph Maughan greatest Aggie ever
For five decades his name was synonymous with Utah State athletics.
If there ever was a man that bled Aggie blue, it was Ralph Maughan. The longtime USU coach died Monday after a 10-year battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 83.
"He has really had a tough go of it lately," said Byrnece Maughan, who would have celebrated 62 years of marriage with Ralph in August. "... He had a really good life."
And touched a lot of people's lives. Byrnece knew her husband had coached many athletes during his more than 40 years in the business, but had no idea exactly what he meant to so many of them until after he retired in 1988. Lately his failing health had her talking with many concerned former Aggie athletes.
"I've learned so many more things about the kids he coached, and what Ralph meant to them," Byrnece said. "So many have kept in touch and come by since he passed away."
John "Doc" Worley, who played football with Maughan and later became the team doctor at USU, once called him "the greatest athlete in the history of Utah State." Others contacted for this story agreed.
"He was a great man," said current Aggie head track coach Gregg Gensel, who competed for Maughan when he was the USU coach and was his assistant for two years. "... I've always believed he was the best all-around athlete from Cache Valley."
It would be hard to argue the point. Maughan was a four-sport star. He starred at South Cache High School in football, basketball and track and ended up playing all three sports at Utah State as well. Then there were his days as a pitcher in fastpitch softball.
"He was a devastating fastpitch specialist and nobody could hit him," Worley said.
His wife said Maughan was among the best in the state in softball.
But it was the other three sports that made him an Aggie great. The 6-foot-2 athlete lettered four years in football and track and three years in basketball. The track stadium at Utah State is named after him, and Byrnece said track was his favorite.
"He was a great all-around athlete and extremely loyal to Utah State," said Dave Kragthorpe, a former Aggie player, coach and athletic director. "... He was a wonderful man, a great person. He was a true Aggie. All the clich/s fit him perfectly."
His USU career began in 1941, when he played for the football team. The following season he did all three sports. Then he stepped away from athletics, enlisting in the Reserve Corps. He eventually ended up in France and Belgium during World War II.
Maughan became a bazooka man during the Battle of the Bulge, because that is what was needed at the time. He received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.
Upon returning to Cache Valley, he began playing three sports again for the Aggies.
"What most impressed me about Ralph was he served in World War II," Gensel said. "... In my mind, he is what a war hero is. He gave up a lot to serve his country."
Maughan would say many years later that his fingers and feet never fully recovered from the cold during the winter of 1944 at the Battle of the Bulge.
He was able, however, to continue a stellar career as an athlete. He was a member of the first two USU football teams to earn bowl berths in 1946 and 1947. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions -- the 18th player taken that year -- and played one year (1949) for the Lions.
A contract to coach at Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho, caused him to leave professional football. Maughan was voted to the USU All-Century team as an offensive center and was one of just seven Aggies to ever make all-conference (All-Mountain States) three times in football (1942, 46-47).
Two years ago the 1946 and 1947 teams got together at Maughan's home in River Heights to reflect, but more was made of the time in World War II and friendships, not wins and losses on the gridiron.
On the hardwood, Maughan earned All-Western Division.
In track, Maughan was the national AAU hammer champion in 1946 and placed fifth in the javelin at the NCAA nationals in 1946 and 1947.
"The Aggies won the 1947 conference track meet in Denver, but really Ralph won it, because he brought in enough points with his high finishes in the shot, discus, hammer and javelin to win it on his own," Worley said. "And he was a very humble guy, not a self promoter at all. He was truly a great man when you consider his roles as husband and father, a great family man."
Gensel agreed.
"No matter what you did, you knew where you stood with Ralph," the current Aggie track coach said. "He never held a grudge. ... He was a great source when you needed help and never took credit."
Gensel, who credits Maughan's genuine care for why he chose USU, said he never would have gotten into coaching without Maughan. And he continued to learn from Maughan after he retired.
"He absolutely and completely was able to make track athletes the best they could be," former USU sports information director Craig Hislop said. "I always remember he had great athletes, but he knew how to coach them and was well known nationally."
Maughan returned to Cache Valley after three years at Ricks College, where he was the head football, basketball and track coach. He was also the head of the physical education department and the Dean of Men.
He came back to USU to be an assistant football coach to John Roning and would end up staying on through the next three Aggie coaches, including Ev Founce, John Ralston and Tony Knapp (1951-67). There is a story that he was a finalist for the head coach when Ralston was hired, but being the modest person he was, never said much about it.
Maughan was also an assistant to head basketball coach H. Cecil Baker from 1951-55.
But it was track where he made his name, especially in the 70s and 80s. During his 37 years as an Aggie track coach (1951-88), there is a long list of greats that competed for him. He coached several national champions, four that became Olympians and two that set world records in L. Jay Silvester (discus) and Mark Enyeart (600 meters) and 11 All-Americans.
"Mark Enyeart came here as a sprinter, but Ralph looked at him and saw a natural 800 runner," Hislop said. "It changed Mark's career."
Enyeart would set an NCAA record in 1977 and won two NCAA titles in 1975 and 1977 in the 800. He also competed on the 1976 Olympic team in the 800.
"The discus literally took me around the world," said Glenn Passey, who came to USU from Paris, Idaho. "I learned the event from Ralph. I did not excel in it in high school. But he had developed techniques -- a new way of throwing -- that was based on unique footwork and leg swing and so forth, and he turned me into a national champion (1961). After going all over the world, there is no question in my mind he was the best coach of the discus event in the world." Gensel remembers being a bit "intimidated" when he first came to Logan from Southern California, because of how well Maughan was known in track circles. He learned, however, that Maughan was a gentle giant and always willing to help.
"Ralph had great knowledge," Gensel said. "The rest of us are amateurs compared to him."
His 37 years at USU as a coach is the most ever by anyone. He has been inducted into the Utah State University Hall of Fame as well as the Utah Sports Hall of Fame.
While he certainly made a name for himself in athletics, Byrnece made a point to share how intelligent he was. Maughan did receive a degree in physical education and mathematics, a masters in physical education and spent more time educating himself in engineering and mathematics.
"He was a very bright man," Byrnece said. "It's not like he couldn't do anything else. He had a great football mind and even scouted for the Dallas Cowboys for a while. ... He was not a man that showed off, and you would never have known he had done all of these things, because he didn't keep clippings."
But Byrnece did, and there are many.
Ralph and Byrnece had a son, Ralph Jr., and a daughter, Susan.
The funeral will take place Saturday in River Heights at the Providence Stake Center at 1 p.m.
