Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2012
- Class:
- 1947
Kautz was a player on the first MU team after World War II in 1946 after he served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.
Marshall turned it around under Cam Henderson in a big way in 1947, advancing to the Tangerine Bowl, the program's first-ever bowl trip. That season, the Herd finished with nine wins, tying the (then) all-time wins mark for Herd football, and only three losses.
Following graduation in 1949 with his Bachelor's, as well as earning a Masters at Marshall, the 1943 Huntington High graduate began coaching football at Ironton High School in Ohio (also acting as athletic director), then later at Ceredo-Kenova High School and back to Ohio for a final stop at Rock Hill, posting a 74-25-1 record (75 percent of all games were wins), and was twice an assistant coach in the Ohio North-South Game.
Kautz came back to Marshall as an assistant football coach for former teammate Charlie Snyder, and served there until 1966. He was then promoted to Assistant Athletic Director for MU by new MU AD Eddie Barrett, after having served as interim AD for Marshall in 1966-67. He also served as Dean of Men at MU during this period, having served in that position earlier in his career. Kautz would succeed Barrett as Athletic Director, serving again as interim AD from August until November of 1969. While interim, he appointed MU assistant Rick Tolley as head coach of the Herd for the 1969 season, then he and Tolley were made the head coach and AD for the 1970 season.
He supervised the upgrades at Fairfield Stadium in 1970, expanding seating to 16,000 seats, building new locker rooms and the laying of Marshall's first Astroturf to replace mud and grass. He planned the all-weather Lefty Rollins MU Track, built in 1975.
Kautz was among those who died on the 1970 crash of the Marshall football charter, returning from ECU. He was married to the former Lucy Gawthorp and left behind three daughters: Lucianne, at the time a MU cheerleader; Kathleen, who was a Huntington East cheerleader; and Leigh, who was a cheerleader for midget football.
