12 Facts About Eddie Erdelatz

Edward J Erdelatz was an American collegiate and professional football player and coach who served as head football coach of the US Naval Academy for nine years.

Eddie Erdelatz was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals, with the 23rd pick in the third round of the 1936 NFL Draft, but never played professionally.

Eddie Erdelatz played three years at end for St Mary's College in California beginning in 1932 under head coach Slip Madigan.

Eddie Erdelatz had a shoulder separation and twisted his knee, but again the injuries failed to keep him from playing.

In 1936, Eddie Erdelatz became St Mary's line coach under Madigan, then left St Mary's for a similar position with the University of San Francisco two years later.

Eddie Erdelatz rose to the rank of lieutenant commander in 1945 and began the first of three years as a Navy assistant coach at the academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

Eddie Erdelatz labeled this squad, "A Team Called Desire" and then went on to shut out the University of Mississippi in the 1955 Sugar Bowl.

In 1956, Eddie Erdelatz hired Steve Belichick to be an assistant coach and scout, a position Belichick held until 1989.

Eddie Erdelatz announced his retirement from football on May 9,1962, and said he would work as an executive with a California financial company.

On October 27,1966, shortly after he had undergone a routine physical, Eddie Erdelatz had surgery to remove a malignant tumor from his stomach.

Eddie Erdelatz's cancer spread and caused his death two weeks later.

Eddie Erdelatz's funeral was attended by more than three hundred people.