Dallas Ward Dallas " Dal " Ward ( August 11 , 1906 – February 1983 ) was an American football , basketball , and baseball player and coach . He served as the head football coach at the University of Colorado at Boulder from 1948 to 1958 , compiling a career record of 63 – 41 – 6 in 11 seasons . Over the course of the 1953 and 1954 seasons , Ward ' s Colorado Buffaloes football teams won nine consecutive games . Ward grew up in Lexington , Oregon on a ranch and played college football at Oregon State University in the 1920s , where he started every game of his collegiate career . Ward held membership in five honorary societies , including Phi Kappa Phi . He was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1985 . The CU athletic administration center , located at the north end of Folsom Field , was named after him . As of 2007 , Ward is one of only three multi - sport inductees in the hall of fame at Oregon State , where he was inducted in 1997 . He earned eight vasity letters : three for football and twice each for baseball and basketball , and was a captain in all three sports . Coaching career . After graduation from Oregon State , Ward taught in Minneapolis and became head coach at Marshall High in 1928 , helped with a letter of recommendation written by Knute Rockne . In 1936 , Ward joined the staff at the University of Minnesota as an assistant coach . During World War II , he served as officer - in - charge of physical and military training at the U . S . Naval Air Station in Dallas , Texas . After the war , he returned to Minnesota as backfield coach . Ward became the head coach at Colorado in 1948 , succeeding James J . Yeager . In his first two seasons , his teams won three games each for a 6 – 13 record , but those were his only losing seasons . Following the 1956 regular season , his team won the Orange Bowl , Colorado ' s first bowl game , over Clemson , 27 – 21 . After winning the season - ending bowl game , Ward was offered the head coaching positions at the University of Southern California and the University of Minnesota , but declined those offers , believing the next few years with the Buffaloes would be even better . However , they did not turn out as hoped , and , on January 23 , 1959 , Ward was asked to resign by the university ' s Board of Regents but refused . The Regents reconsidered their actions , but amid many letters of protest mailed in , the original decision was kept and Ward was fired . Although no official reason was stated , it was widely believed Ward was relieved because of his inability to defeat the Oklahoma ; his career record against the Sooners was 0 – 8 – 1 . His 1952 team did tie Oklahoma , 21 – 21 , in Boulder in the season opener , earning him UPI Coach of the Week honors . He retired from coaching after his firing . Ward is credited with bringing the Colorado Buffaloes football program to national prominence in the 1950s . As of 2007 , Ward is ranked third at Colorado in total number of games coached , fourth in total wins , and sixth in conference wins . Later life and death . Ward had earned tenure as a CU faculty member in 1956 . He chose to stay at Colorado and teach . He and his wife Jane and their five children remained in Boulder , Colorado where Ward died of cancer in February 1983 .