John Petercuskie

Category
1996
About This Inductee

John, a 1942 graduate of Old Forge High School, lettered in football, basketball, and baseball. Following a stint in the Marines, John attended and graduated from East Stroudsburg State Teachers College, where he was named All-PA State for four consecutive years and captained the football team. He returned to Old Forge to teach and coach football as an assistant from 1951 to 1953. In 1954 he became assistant football coach at Neshaminy High School in Langhorne. He was elevated to head coach in 1960, and through 1965 had a record of 59-1-5. Neshaminy won fifty-one straight victories, the second-longest scholastic winning streak in the nation. His record of 59-1-5 still stands today in Lower Bucks County. After leaving Neshaminy, Petercuskie coached the defensive line at Dartmouth College (1966-1968) and was defensive coordinator/defensive line coach at Boston College (1969-1972), and at Princeton (1973-1977). In 1966, he was an assistant in the PA Big 33 when it played Texas in Hershey. He entered the National Football League in 1978 with the Cleveland Browns under head coach Sam Rutigliano, functioning as special teams coordinator in charge of nose tackles, staying until 1984. Coming out of retirement, he joined Harvard in 1987-1988 as part-time assistant coach of the defensive line. He moved to Liberty University from 1989-1990 as full-time defensive line and special teams coach. He again retired in 1991; however, John returned to Liberty University in 1992 and 1994 on a part-time basis. Now permanently retired, John and his wife Dorothy live in Cape Cod and have three sons and six grandchildren. He is also a member of the East Stroudsburg University Hall of Fame, Chic Feldman Hall of Fame in Scranton, Neshaminy High Hall of Fame, and the PA Hall of Fame, Lackawanna County Chapter. LPetercuskie continues to speak at high schools, colleges, and various clinics.