There is nothing wrong in saying Dwight "Dike" Beede built the
YSU football program from the ground up.
Because in 1938 when Beede took over the Penguin football
program as the head coach, there were no players, no stadium, no
coaches or fans -- only dreams and ideas. Beede turned those hopes
of building a football program into the Youngstown State University
football team. And for 32 seasons he was on the sidelines as the
leader of the squad he created.
Beede coached the Penguins from 1938 the conclusion of the 1972
season. Just after the football season – and one month shy of
his 70th birthday – he drowned in the Little Beaver Creek in
December 1972. In his 32 years, he owned a coaching mark of
147-118-4 as the first coach of the YSU program, a winning
percentage of .546. He spent 40 years as a collegiate head coach
finishing with a career record of 175-146-20 record.
Prior to taking over at YSU he spent five years at Westminster
College (14-21-3) and three seasons at Geneva College (14-7-3). He
took over the program and started it from scratch.
While he had numerous coaching successes, Beede was an innovator
for the game as well.
A star fullback at Carnegie Tech in the 1920's, Beede introduced
the "spinner play" by accident. During a practice session, a
handoff was missed and the quarterback kept the ball for a sizeable
gain. He suggested refining the move and making it a play.
In 1941, he originated the use of flags to denote penalties
rather than having a horn or whistle blow, which was then used
during a play. Beede's wife Irma credited the flag, which was half
white and half red. It was first used on Oct. 17, 1941 when the
Penguins played host to Oklahoma City University at Youngstown
Rayen Stadium.
He was recognized for his contributions in 1966 when he was
named to the Helms Athletic Foundation's College Football Hall of
Fame.
He was inducted in the Youngstown State Athletics Hall of Fame
as a member of the inaugural class in 1985. In his honor, the
playing surface at Stambaugh Stadium was named Beede Field in April
1982 by the university's Board of Trustees.
In 1938, he led the school to a 4-5 record in his first season.
The Penguins began the year with four straight losses, but after
picking up a 20-0 victory over Westminster to earn the first win in
the school's history, won four of their final five games.
In 1940, Beede guided YSU to a 7-1-1 overall mark for the
school's first-ever winning season. Youngstown State had a 15-game
unbeaten streak from Oct. 4 1940 through Sept. 25, 1942. In 1960,
YSU and Beede earned their 100th win beating Akron 34-21.
At Youngstown he posted 17 winning seasons and had 21 seasons
where the school finished with a .500-or-better winning percentage.
He guided the Penguins to eight wins in 1947 and that was a school
record until the 1974 season. The Football Writers Association of
America voted him the Small College Coach of the Year in 1957.
Beede earned the final victory of his coaching career on Nov. 4
when YSU beat Central State 28-6. In his final home game that year,
YSU tied Central Michigan 28-28 on Nov. 11.
He earned his 100th career win in 1953 beating the LaCrosse
Teachers 39-13 and earned career victory No. 150 in 1965 beating
Central Michigan 35-14.
Beede was born in Youngstown in 1903 and had a stellar local and
collegiate football career. He graduated from South High School in
1921 and after attending Newberry College in Newberry, S.C., for a
year he returned home to play football at Carnegie Tech (now
Carnegie Mellon) in 1923. In his playing days he scored two
touchdowns against Notre Dame's famed Four Horseman in a 1924 game.
He earned his degree in Engineering from Carnegie Tech in 1926.
As for the Spinner Play, the team had an end-around play on
which Beede, a fullback, took the ball turned his back on the line
of scrimmage and handed off to the running end. Beede then would
swing over to block after the maneuver. One day at practice, the
end went the wrong way and Beede swung back around towards the line
of scrimmage.
At the age of 23, he landed his first head-coaching job taking
over the program at Westminster. He coached at Westminster from
1926-30 and later became the head coach at Geneva College from
1934-36. In 1937, he left coaching to sell insurance full time
before taking over at YSU in 1938.
Even though he was the head coach of the football team, he was
not a full-time university employee for the first decade he was on
the sidelines. He took the job on the basis that he was a part-time
coach who earned $1 a year, but was able to gain extra income by
selling a portion of the school's insurance.
Beede was the District Manager of the Mass Mutual Life Insurance
Co. from 1927-37 and then the District Manager of the National Life
Insurance Co. from 1938-50 before becoming a full-time university
employee.
He earned full-time status as coach and an associate professor
of Biology in 1950. He was a respected forestry professor and was
named to the Ohio Forestry Advisory Council by then Governor John
J. Galligan. His farm home was recognized throughout the state for
its exemplary tree farming and land management.
In 1938, Beede planted the seed for the Youngstown State
football program. He spent 32 years working hard to make the
program grow and by the time he was finished his football program,
like his farm, had become something very impressive.
