Sport(s) | Football |
---|---|
Biographical details | |
Born |
Bell, California |
May 7, 1942
Died | October 4, 2008 Newport Beach, California |
(aged 66)
Playing career | |
1961–1964 | USC |
Position(s) | Quarterback |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1965–1973 | USC (assistant) |
1974 | Portland Storm (assistant) |
1975 | USC (assistant) |
1976–1979 | Oregon State |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 10–34–1 |
Craig Fertig (May 7, 1942 – October 4, 2008) was an American football player and coach. He was the head football coach at Oregon State University from 1976 to 1979, compiling a record of 10–34–1 (.233) in four seasons.
Fertig attended the University of Southern California where he was a star quarterback for the Trojans. In 1964, he set eight school passing records and threw the game-winning touchdown against top-ranked Notre Dame.
Selected late in the 1965 NFL Draft, 270th overall, Fertig opted not to play pro football and began coaching in 1965 at USC. From 1965 to 1975, he served as an assistant coach with the Trojans, except for a year in the World Football League (WFL) in 1974. Fertig was hired as an assistant coach with the Portland Storm, but the team only lasted one season. The IRS impounded the franchise at the conclusion of the 1974 season and Fertig returned to USC as an assistant in 1975.
At age 33 in December 1975, Fertig was named the head coach at Oregon State University in Corvallis, with a three-year contract at $26,000 per year. He followed Dee Andros, who stepped down after eleven seasons and became OSU's athletic director. Fertig was fired during his fourth season in October 1979, in the second year of a three-year contract at $33,696 per year. He coached through the end of the season, and lost the finale to Oregon 24–3 in the Civil War, the Beavers' fifth straight loss to the Ducks.