Red Strader

Norman "Red" Strader (December 21, 1902 - May 26, 1956) was a football player and coach who served in both capacities at the collegiate and professional levels. In the college ranks, he spent two years as head coach at St. Mary's College of California, and later held the same position with the New York Yankees (football) and San Francisco 49ers.

Born in Newton, New Jersey, Strader moved with his family six months after his arrival to Modesto, California, attending high school in the town. He advanced to St. Mary's, where he played at fullback under future College Football Hall of Fame coach Slip Madigan. During his final year in 1925, he was recognized as the first player in Gael history to earn All-American recognition.

Strader then turned to baseball when he was signed on February 20, 1926, by the Cleveland Indians. He played with three teams: in Saginaw, Michigan; Wheeling, West Virginia; and Hollywood, California, but returned to football in 1927, when he played one season with the National Football League's Chicago Cardinals.

In 1928, he took his first football coaching job when accepted the top job for Regis College in Colorado. By 1932, he returned to St. Mary's working under Madigan for the next eight seasons, but when health problems forced Madigan to retire, Strader was promoted to head coach on March 17, 1940.

After two seasons as head coach, Strader was irritated when the Gaels' Bay area rival, the University of San Francisco, blocked the team from using their regular field at Kezar Stadium. However, greater considerations due to the onset of World War II and St. Mary's turning over a portion of their campus to naval training caused Strader to resign and spend the next 40 months in the service. During this period, he rose to the rank of lieutenant commander while coaching football and baseball at a trio of naval bases.

Upon the end of the war, Strader was hired in 1946 as backfield coach of the Yankees of the fledgling All American Football Conference. When head coach Ray Flaherty was forced out aftwer a slow start on September 17, 1948, Strader was elevated to take his place. In his first season, the Yankees split their 10 remaining games, then reached the playoffs the following year with an 8-4 mark.

In December 1949, the AAFC was officially merged with the NFL, with a majority of the Yankees players being shifted to the older league's New York Bulldogs. Strader was named to lead the remolded team on January 5, 1950 and led the Yankees to a 7-5 finish that season. However, in June 1951, he was hospitalized for several weeks with heart problems. Those health concerns resulted in his departure on August 5, 1951, with team owner Ted Collins stating that he wanted assurances that Strader would not be compromised by the strains of coaching, a comment that Strader vigorously denied, saying he had been fired.