Frank Kush Frank Joseph Kush ( born January 20 , 1929 ) is a former American football player and coach . He served as the head coach at Arizona State University from 1958 to 1979 , compiling a record of 176 – 54 – 1 . Kush was also the coach of the Canadian Football League ' s Hamilton Tiger - Cats in 1981 , the National Football League ' s Baltimore / Indianapolis Colts from 1982 to 1984 , and the Arizona Outlaws of the United States Football League in 1985 . He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1995 . Kush is of Polish descent and was inducted into the National Polish - American Sports Hall of Fame . Early life and playing career . Kush was born in Windber , Pennsylvania . He played three years as a 5 ' 7 " , 150 - pound defensive lineman at Michigan State University from 1950 to 1952 , earning All - American honors in 1952 helping the Spartans capture a national championship in his last season . College coaching career . After a stint in the United States Army , where Kush rose to the rank of first lieutenant as he coached the Fort Benning football team , he accepted an assistant coaching position at Arizona State under former assistant Spartan coach Dan Devine . When Devine left in 1958 to become the head coach at the University of Missouri , Kush was promoted to the position , which he would hold for the next 22 years . During his time at Arizona State , Kush was known for being one of the most physically demanding coaches in the game . His daily football practices in the heat of the Arizona desert are still the stuff of legend today . One of his drills was known as " Bull in the Ring " , whereupon he would have the players form a circle . He would put a player in the middle ( most often , a player he felt needed " motivation " ) , call out a uniform number , and blow his whistle . That player would charge the player in the middle and the two would engage in contact until Kush blew the whistle again . Whichever of the two players gave the best effort would go back to the circle , while the player " dogging it " would stay in until Kush decided he could quit . Former NFL and Arizona State player Curley Culp once broke a teammate ' s facemask during this drill . Another of his drills ( which was designed to see if his running backs could take punishment carrying the ball ) consisted of having only a center , quarterback , and two running backs line up on offense , with no other offensive lineman , and run running plays against the entire defense . Kush would run a running back into the line time and time again so he could get used to the pounding he would take in games . The most famous of Kush ' s motivational techniques was called " Mount Kush . " Mount Kush was a steep hill near the Sun Devils ' practice facility ( Camp Tontozona ) near Payson , Arizona with several large rocks , cacti , and no shade from the Arizona sun . If a player especially needed discipline in Kush ' s opinion , that player would have to run up and down that hill numerous times . During his lengthy career in the desert , Kush compiled a record of 176 – 54 – 1 , with only two losing seasons . In his first eleven years , he captured two conference titles and finished runnerup five times . That success led to him accepting the head coaching job at the University of Pittsburgh on January 4 , 1969 . However , just five days later , Kush had a change of heart and returned to Arizona State . Kush ' s return would begin a memorable era in Sun Devil football history with five consecutive Western Athletic Conference championships as the team won 50 of 56 games from 1969 to 1973 . During this time , Arizona State won the 1970 Peach Bowl and the first three editions of the Fiesta Bowl . In 1974 , the team dropped to 7 – 4 , but bounced back with authority the following year when they went 12 – 0 , capping the year with a thrilling 17 – 14 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Fiesta Bowl , a game in which Kush ' s son , Danny , kicked three field goals , including the game winner . A down year in 1976 saw the team fall to 4 – 7 , but another comeback resulted the next year with a 9 – 3 mark . In that year ' s Fiesta Bowl , the Sun Devils lost a bowl game for the only time under Kush ' s leadership , with a 42 – 30 defeat to Penn State . In 1978 , Kush ' s team once again finished 9 – 3 , this time defeating Rutgers in the Garden State Bowl . That win would be one of the final highlights of Kush ' s tenure as controversy and scandal the next year toppled him from his head coaching position . Dismissal from Arizona State . In September 1979 former Sun Devil punter Kevin Rutledge filed a $ 1 . 1 million lawsuit against the school , accusing Kush and his staff of mental and physical harassment that forced him to transfer . The most dramatic charge was that Kush had punched Rutledge in the mouth after a bad punt in the October 28 , 1978 , game against the Washington Huskies . During the next few weeks , overzealous fans turned things ugly when the insurance office of Rutledge ' s father suffered a fire and the family ' s attorney received two death threats . On October 13 , 1979 , Kush was fired as head coach for interfering with the school ' s internal investigation into Rutledge ' s allegations . Athletic director Fred Miller cited Kush ' s alleged attempts to pressure players and coaches into keeping quiet . The decision came just three hours before the team ' s home game against Washington . Kush was allowed to coach the game , with the Sun Devils pulling off an emotional 12 – 7 upset of the sixth - ranked Huskies , fueled by the angry crowd incensed by the decision . After the game ended , Kush was carried off the field by his team . The win gave him a 3 – 2 record on the season , but all three victories were later forfeited when it was determined that Arizona State had used ineligible players . After nearly two years , Kush would be found not liable in the case , but would be off the sidelines during 1980 , the first time in more than 30 years that he had been away from the game . The case itself would have far - reaching implications for coaches everywhere , making them consider the different ways to best motivate and / or punish players . Despite his problems with Rutledge , most of Kush ' s former players regard him with high respect for instilling discipline , motivation , and work ethic in their lives . Future NFL players who played under Kush at Arizona State include Charley Taylor , Curley Culp , Danny White , Benny Malone , Mark Malone , and John Jefferson and Steve Holden . Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson also played a year of football at Arizona State for Kush on a football scholarship before switching to baseball . Professional coaching career . Kush moved to the Canadian Football League the following year , serving as head coach of the Hamilton Tiger - Cats . In his only season with the team , he led his squad to an 11 – 4 – 1 mark and a berth in the CFL Eastern Conference championship game . Controversy followed him to the CFL , however , with Kush quarreling with some Ti - Cats players when he attempted to ban the common practice of taping shoes and ankles . That performance helped Kush return to the United States when the Baltimore Colts hired him in 1982 . During the strike - shortened season , the Colts had the dubious record of being the first NFL team since the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers to not win a game during the season , finishing 0 – 8 – 1 . John Elway ' s refusal to play for the Colts after they chose him first overall in the 1983 draft has been attributed to his desire not to play for Kush . The Colts improved the following year with a 7 – 9 record , then moved to Indianapolis during the off - season . After just four wins in fifteen games in 1984 , Kush quit on December 13 , just days before the final game of the season . Citing a desire to be closer to friends and family , Kush accepted a three - year contract with the United States Football League ' s Arizona Outlaws . However , the league folded in August 1986 , with Kush then living off his personal services contract with Outlaws owner Bill Tatham by offering assistance to beginners in a local youth football league , joking , " I ' m the highest - paid Pop Warner coach in the country . " Kush also used his disciplinarian image to serve as director of the Arizona Boys Ranch , a facility used to reform juvenile offenders . Life after coaching . In 1995 , Kush was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame , then was welcomed back to Arizona State the next year . On September 21 , 1996 , the school held Frank Kush Day and announced that the playing field at Sun Devil Stadium would be named " Frank Kush Field " in his honor . On the same night Arizona State went on to upset then # 1 Nebraska in a dramatic 19 – 0 shutout , handing the Cornhuskers their first loss in over two seasons . In addition to the field honors , a bronze statue was placed outside the stadium . On July 26 , 2000 , Kush was officially hired by Arizona State as an assistant to the athletic director , serving as a fund - raiser for the athletic department .