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Nicholas George Denes[1] (Romanian: Nicolae George Deneș (December 16, 1906 – November 28, 1975) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at Western Kentucky University from 1957 to 1967, compiling a record of 57–39–7. His 1963 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team went undefeated, winning the Ohio Valley Conference conference title and the 1963 Tangerine Bowl. Denes was also the head baseball coach at Western Kentucky from 1958 to 1962, tallying a mark of 48–40–1. Nick Denes Field, the home venue for the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers baseball team, is named for him. Denes was the head football coach at the University of Tennessee Junior College—now known as the University of Tennessee at Martin—from 1937 to 1938. He coached athletics at Corbin High School in Corbin, Kentucky from 1929 to 1937 and at Louisville Male High School in Louisville, Kentucky from 1939 to 1957.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 16, 1906 Bucharest, Romania |
| Died | November 28, 1975 (aged 68) Bowling Green, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1927 | Champaign HS (IL) (backfield) |
| 1929–1936 | Corbin HS (KY) |
| 1937–1938 | Tennessee JC |
| 1939–1956 | Louisville Male HS (KY) |
| 1957–1967 | Western Kentucky |
| Basketball | |
| 1929–1937 | Corbin HS (KY) |
| Baseball | |
| 1958–1962 | Western Kentucky |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 57–39–7 (college football) 48–40–1 (college baseball) |
| Bowls | 1–0 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Football 1 OVC (1963) | |
| Awards | |
| OVC Coach of the Year (1963) | |
Denes was born in 1906 in Bucharest, Romania and raised in Garrett, Indiana. He graduated from the University of Illinois and received a master's degree from the University of Kentucky.[2]
Denes began his coaching career in 1927, as a backfield coach for the football team at Champaign High School in Champaign, Illinois. In 1929 he was hired as head football and head basketball coach at Corbin High School in Corbin, Kentucky. His football teams compiled a record of 63–11–5 in eight seasons. They were champions of the Cumberland Valley Conference four times (1931, 1933–1935) and runners-up twice (1930, 1932). His basketball teams were 142–39 and won the Cumberland Valley Conference four times (1929, 1931, 1932, 1936).[3]
Denes died on November 28, 1975, at Greenview Hospital in Bowling Green, Kentucky.[2]
College football
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (Ohio Valley Conference) (1957–1967) | |||||||||
| 1957 | Western Kentucky | 5–3–1 | 1–3–1 | T–4th | |||||
| 1958 | Western Kentucky | 4–5 | 2–4 | T–5th | |||||
| 1959 | Western Kentucky | 5–4 | 3–3 | 4th | |||||
| 1960 | Western Kentucky | 2–6–1 | 1–4–1 | T–6th | |||||
| 1961 | Western Kentucky | 6–3 | 4–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1962 | Western Kentucky | 5–3 | 3–3 | 5th | |||||
| 1963 | Western Kentucky | 10–0–1 | 7–0 | 1st | W Tangerine | ||||
| 1964 | Western Kentucky | 6–3–1 | 3–3–1 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1965 | Western Kentucky | 2–6–2 | 1–5–1 | 7th | |||||
| 1966 | Western Kentucky | 5–5 | 3–4 | 6th | |||||
| 1967 | Western Kentucky | 7–1–1 | 5–1–1 | 2nd | |||||
| Western Kentucky: | 57–39–7 | 33–32–5 | |||||||
| Total: | 57–39–7 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
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