Dee Andros Demosthenes Konstandies " Dee " Andrecopoulos ( October 17 , 1924 – October 22 , 2003 ) was an American football player , coach , and college athletics administrator . He served as the head football coach at the University of Idaho from 1962 to 1964 and at Oregon State University from 1965 to 1975 , compiling career college football record of 62 – 80 – 2 . A native of Oklahoma and a World War II veteran , Andros played college football as a guard at the University of Oklahoma . After retiring from coaching , he was the athletic director at Oregon State from 1976 to 1985 . Early life , military service , and playing career . Andros , born Demosthenes Konstandies Andrikoupolos in Oklahoma City , was the second of three sons of Greek immigrants . He received his high school education at Oklahoma City ' s Central High School , and then enlisted in the military in 1942 . Andros was a veteran of World War II where he served four years in the U . S . Marine Corps . A cook , he picked up a rifle and was awarded the Bronze Star and spent more than a month under heavy fire on the island of Iwo Jima . He was present at the famed moment when six soldiers raised the American flag on Iwo Jima . Andros played college football at Oklahoma from 1946 to 1949 , under hall of fame head coach Bud Wilkinson . He was selected in the 14th round ( 177th overall ) by the Chicago Cardinals in the 1950 NFL Draft . Dee ' s older brother Plato ( 1921 - 2008 ) was an All - American in 1946 at Oklahoma and played four years in the NFL for the Cardinals . His younger brother Gus ( Dick ) ( 1926 - 2009 ) was a ballet dancer and choreographer . Coaching career . Andros ' coaching career included stops as an assistant at Oklahoma , Kansas , Texas Tech , Nebraska , California and Illinois . While Dee was serving as an assistant , Texas Tech went to the Sun Bowl and California went to the Rose Bowl in 1959 . Idaho . Andros became a head coach at age 37 at Idaho in February 1962 . He took over for Skip Stahley , who remained as athletic director . Andros ' starting annual salary was just under $ 12 , 500 . The 1962 team was 2 - 6 - 1 , but the following year he led Idaho to its first winning season in a quarter century . The Vandals won their opener in 1964 , but then lost four straight , the latter two were close ones to Oregon and Oregon State . The 10 - 7 loss to the Rose Bowl - bound Beavers in Corvallis came by a late third quarter OSU punt return . The Vandals rebounded and the next week won the Battle of the Palouse for the first time in a decade , defeating neighbor Washington State 28 - 13 . The Vandals split the final four games to finish at 4 - 6 . While Idaho had joined the Big Sky Conference as a charter member in 1963 , the Vandals essentially remained an independent for football through 1964 under Andros . Only one conference foe was played during the first two Big Sky seasons , a 1963 game with Idaho State that was previously scheduled . Andros spent three years on the Palouse at Idaho , with an overall record of 11 - 16 - 1 ( . 411 ) . Oregon State . Andros was hired as the head coach at Oregon State in February 1965 . He replaced the legendary Tommy Prothro , who had left for UCLA just days after leading the Beavers in the 1965 Rose Bowl . Andros compiled a 51 – 64 – 1 record ( . 444 ) in his 11 seasons at Oregon State . In the Civil War games against the Oregon Ducks , he won his first seven and split the last four , for an overall record of 9 – 2 ( . 818 ) . Andros was nicknamed " The Great Pumpkin " for his bright orange jacket and large physical size , first dubbed by a member of the Spokane press ( during the rout of WSU in ( in Pullman on Halloween in 1966 ) . 1967 . Andros is best known for his incredible 1967 season in which his team , dubbed the " Giant Killers " , went 7 – 2 – 1 . That season , the Beavers , led by quarterback Steve Preece , beat # 2 Purdue , tied the new # 2 UCLA , and then beat # 1 USC . But because Oregon State lost to Washington and tied UCLA , USC won the conference title by a half game and earned the berth to the Rose Bowl , where they defeated the Big Ten Conference ' s Indiana Hoosiers , 14 – 3 , and won the national title . Oregon State finished with a # 7 ranking in the AP Poll , but did not participate in a bowl game as the AAWU ( Pac - 8 ) allowed only the conference champion to do so . In 1968 , the Beavers were ranked # 6 in the pre - season and finishing # 15 after a 7 – 3 campaign . They did not compete in a bowl game , as conference rules prohibited teams from going to any bowl other than the Rose Bowl until 1975 . Andros expressed an interest in the position at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater in December 1968 , and several weeks later , rejected an offer from the University of Pittsburgh . Later life and family . After stepping down as head coach following the 1975 season , Andros was named athletic director , succeeding Jim Barratt . Andros served in this capacity until the spring of 1985 , when he retired . Though retired , Andros continued to serve as a special assistant within the Beaver Athletic Scholarship Fund until health problems forced him to remain at his Corvallis home . He spent nearly 40 years of his life involved with Oregon State athletics . Though he spent only three years at Idaho , he was still held in high regard in Moscow . In 1989 , Andros was invited by first - year head coach John L . Smith to coach one of the sides in the annual Silver & Gold spring game , opposite former 1970s head coach Ed Troxel . In 1992 , his " Giant Killers " team of 1967 was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame . In the spring of 2003 , Andros was awarded the Martin Chaves Lifetime Achievement Award at the Fifth Annual Bennys celebration at Oregon State . Andros married Luella Andros , and they had one daughter named Jeanna . He died in Corvallis on October 22 , 2003 at the age of 79 .