Rip Engle
American football player and coach
About Rip Engle
Lived 1906 – 1983 (aged 76). Rip Engle was an American basketball coach, american football player and american football coach.
Charles A. "Rip" Engle (March 26, 1906 – March 7, 1983) was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. He served as the head football coach at Brown University from 1944 to 1949 and at Pennsylvania State University from 1950 to 1965, compiling a career college football record of 132–68–8. Engle was also the head basketball coach at Western Maryland College (now known as McDaniel College) during the 1941–42 season and at Brown from 1942 to 1946, tallying a career college basketball mark of 53–55. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1973.
Early life and playing career Engle was born in Elk Lick Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. He played college football as an end at Western Maryland College, now McDaniel College.
Coaching career Engle's coaching record from 1944 to 1965, including stints at Brown University and Penn State, was 132–68–8. He played football at Western Maryland College, reportedly in the first game he ever saw.
Under the leadership of Engle at Brown, Joe Paterno developed as a capable quarterback and a skillful leader. After graduating in 1950, Paterno joined Engle at Penn State as an assistant coach. Upon Engle's retirement in February 1966, Paterno was named coach of the Nittany Lions for the 1966 season, a position he would hold until 2011. Engle's best season at Penn State was in 1962 when the Lions went 9–2, were ranked ninth in the country, and played in the Gator Bowl. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1973.
Engle developed a game called Angleball as a way for his players to maintain physical fitness in the off-season.
Death Engle died on March 7, 1983, at a nursing home in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.
Head coaching record College football
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Important facts
People in Rip Engle's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Rip Engle's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Rip Engle?
American football player and coach (1906-1983)
When was Rip Engle born?
Rip Engle was born on 26 March 1906 in Salisbury.
When did Rip Engle die?
Rip Engle died on 7 March 1983 in Bellefonte.
What was Rip Engle's occupation?
Rip Engle was a basketball coach, american football player and american football coach.
What nationality was Rip Engle?
Rip Engle was American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Rip Engle. https://biography.guide/rip-engle/
MLA: "Rip Engle." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/rip-engle/.
Chicago: "Rip Engle." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/rip-engle/.
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