Red Dugan
Ralph "Red" Dugan (February 13, 1913 – July 5, 1992) was head coach for the University of Kansas baseball team in 1946. He attended the University before World War II, first on a football scholarship. Dugan eventually lettered in baseball though, as a pitcher for the University of Kansas Jayhawks.[2] He also claimed to be a manager under Phog Allen for the basketball team, but he once said this meant he was only a "waterboy". Before joining the military, Allen wrote a recommendation for Dugan to Commander T. J. Hamilton at the United States Department of the Navy in Washington, D.C.. The letter stated:
I recommend Ralph Dugan without reservation or evasion...he is, in my opinion, highly qualified for this type of work and will do a good job in whatever he undertakes. His character and habits are of the highest quality. He is a hard worker, thoroughly dependable and reliable, and uses his head in getting the job done.[3]
Dugan did not join the Navy, but instead joined the United States Army Air Corps at Basic Training Center No. 4 in Miami Beach, Florida, where he played football and pitched. Then, in 1943, he was assigned to Las Vegas Army Air Field and coached the Horned Toads baseball team for the next three seasons.[3]