(Wyoming release)
LARAMIE, Wyo. – Dale Haupt, who captained the 1953 University of Wyoming Football team and would go on to a long college and NFL coaching career, passed away on Tuesday, April 3 at the age of 88.
Dale Haupt came to Wyoming in 1950 from Manitowoc, Wis. He would go on to letter for the Cowboys in 1951, ‘52 and ‘53. Haupt played under Cowboy head coach Bowden Wyatt for the 1950-52 seasons and played for head coach Phil Dickens his senior season of 1953.
Haupt was voted the lone team captain for 1953 Cowboy Football team and earned All-Skyline Conference honors as a guard in ‘53. After his playing career, he would continue his love for the game of football coaching for many years. His coaching positions at the collegiate level included stops at Tennessee (1960-63), Iowa State (1964-65), Richmond (1966-71), North Carolina State (1972-77) and Duke (1978). Haupt later entered the professional coaching ranks with the Chicago Bears from 1978-85 and with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1986-95.
In 1985, Haupt was the defensive line coach for one of the greatest defensive lines in the history of the NFL with the Chicago Bears. The ‘85 Bears won Super Bowl XX by a score of 46-10 over the New England Patriots. That ‘85 Bear defensive line included: Super XX MVP Richard Dent, Dan Hampton, Steve McMichael and William “Refrigerator” Perry. Hampton was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002 and Dent was inducted in 2011. While coaching with the Philadelphia Eagles, Haupt would coach future Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive lineman Reggie White. White, who died in 2004 at the age of 43, was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
In lieu of gifts or flowers, the Haupt family requests memorial gifts be made to the Mary Claire Kaufman Scholarship Endowment, in care of: The University of Wyoming Foundation, 222 South 22nd Street, Laramie, WY 82070.” Online memorial gifts may be made on this secured webpage: http://www.uwyo.edu/giveonline.
Here is a story written by Larry Mayer, Bears Senior Writer, on the Chicago Bears Official Website Detailed Haupt’s Professional Coaching Career:
Former Bears defensive line coach Dale Haupt, who was on Mike Ditka’s staff with the famed 1985 Super Bowl champions, passed away Tuesday after a long battle with an illness. He was 88.
Haupt spent eight of 18 years in the NFL coaching the Bears defensive line under head coaches Neill Armstrong (1978-81) and Mike Ditka (1982-85). In Chicago, Haupt coached Hall of Famers Dan Hampton and Richard Dent as well as Al Harris, Mike Hartenstine, Steve McMichael, Jim Osborne, Alan Page and William “Refrigerator” Perry.
“It was an amazing collection of defensive linemen and he was very vital in the success that we had,” Hampton told ChicagoBears.com. “He was an old-school coach. He didn’t want to be your friend. He wanted to challenge you and work you and make you pay a price. Over the years me being old school you come to appreciate so much what he meant to us.
“He was such a great guy. He loved us and respected us. With so many coaches it’s almost like their main preoccupation is, ‘Where’s my next job?” And ‘How much am I going to get paid?’ Dale Haupt wanted us to be the greatest defensive line. That’s all that mattered to him. We loved him for forever and a day. He was such a great man.”
When defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan left the Bears to become Eagles head coach in 1986, Haupt went along with him and spent 10 seasons as Philadelphia’s defensive line coach through 1995. With the Eagles, Haupt coached Jerome Brown, Clyde Simmons and Reggie White.
According to his obituary:
Haupt was born in Manitowoc, Wis., and earned his toughness growing up on the family dairy farm and working in their restaurant, while playing football and baseball and participating in Gold Glove Boxing.
Haupt played college football at Wyoming, where he was a team captain, team MVP and all-conference selection.
His wife, Frances, is a native of Laurinburg, N.C., where she still resides. His son, Mac, a college football player and alum of Wake Forest University and Duke University, has four sons: David, Duncan, Daniel and Dylan. Haupt’s daughter, Helen, a nurse and graduate of Wake Forest University, has three children: Barry, Spencer and Mary.
A celebration of Haupt’s life will be held on Friday, April 20, at the First Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, N.C., at 2 p.m. with a reception to follow at the NCSU University Club.
