Dartmouth Football Legend Jake Crouthamel '60 Passes Away

HANOVER, N.H. — John "Jake" Crouthamel, a member of the Dartmouth Class of 1960 as well as a former star two-way halfback and head coach for the Big Green, died peacefully on Nov. 7, 2022. He was 84 years old.

MEMORIAL and DONATIONS

A gathering to remember Jake Crouthamel '60 will be held at the Top of the Hop at The Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College on Friday, Nov. 18, 2-4 p.m.

Donations in Jake's memory can be made to the Maurice Neinken Scholarship Fund, in care of the Bucks County Foundation, PO Box 2073, Doylestown, PA 18901. This fund benefits students from Pennridge High School where Jake was a student prior to attending Dartmouth.

A native of Perkasie, Pennsylvania, Crouthamel was Dartmouth's leading rusher for three seasons and the Ivy League rushing leader in 1958 when he set a Dartmouth single-season rushing record with 722 yards in 123 carries, a 5.89-yard average, earning second-team NEA All-America honors. He was named to the All-Ivy League first team in each of his final two seasons, and his career rushing total of 1,763 yards (387 carries, 4.56 average, 12 touchdowns) was a Dartmouth record that stood for more than a decade and still ranks sixth all-time.

Crouthamel, a history major, graduated from Dartmouth in 1960 and was selected by the Los Angeles Chargers in the first American Football League draft but signed with the Dallas Cowboys, an NFL expansion team. The last player cut in pre-season by the Cowboys, he then played with the AFL's Boston Patriots during their inaugural season.

After three years in the U.S. Navy and a year as football coach at Mercersburg (Pa.) Academy, Crouthamel returned to Dartmouth as a member of Bob Blackman's coaching staff in 1965. In six years as an assistant coach, he helped the Big Green earn four Ivy League championships, including two undefeated seasons (1965, 1970) when Dartmouth also won the Lambert Trophy as the outstanding team in the East.

When Blackman left Dartmouth after 16 years to become football coach at Illinois, Crouthamel was named his successor. From 1971-77, Crouthamel's teams compiled a record of 41-20-2 (.667) and won or shared three Ivy League championships (1971-72-73). After leading the Big Green to an unprecedented fifth straight Ivy title in 1973, he was recognized as the New England and NCAA District I Coach of the Year.

Crouthamel left coaching after the 1977 season to become the athletics director at Syracuse University. He was instrumental in the creation of the Big East Conference in 1979 and led the Orange to great successes: a national title in men's basketball, nine national titles in men's lacrosse, 14 football bowl appearances and 22 overall Big East Conference championships in his 27 years at the helm.

In 1999, Crouthamel won the National Football Foundation's John L. Toner Award for dedication to college athletics, particularly football. In 2007, he received the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) James Lynah Distinguished Achievement Award and in 2008 he was inducted into the National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors (NACDA) Hall of Fame. The following year, he was Dartmouth's honoree at the Ivy League Football Association's biannual dinner in New York City for his achievements at Dartmouth and in his subsequent career.

He is survived by Carol, his wife of 61 years; two daughters, Lisa (Jim) Evans of Waterville, Maine, and Christie Falkenburg of Winchester, Massachusetts, and four grandsons, John and Owen Evans and Ted and Jake Falkenburg.

In retirement since 2005, Jake and Carol lived in Centerville, Massachusetts, until moving to Hanover in 2013.

The Rand-Wilson Funeral Home in Hanover is assisting the family for a private burial.