Joseph E. Truskowski was an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

, basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 and baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 player and coach. He played college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

, basketball and baseball at the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

. He played three years each at the end position for the Michigan football

Michigan Wolverines football

The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...

 team and as a forward for the Michigan basketball

Michigan Wolverines men's basketball

The Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Michigan. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association . The Wolverines play home basketball games at the...

 team. He was the captain of the 1929 Michigan Wolverines football team

1929 Michigan Wolverines football team

The 1929 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1929 college football season. The team's head coach was Harry G. Kipke...

 and won a total of eight varsity letters at Michigan. He was the head football coach at Olivet College

Olivet College

Olivet College is a coeducational, liberal arts college located in Olivet, Michigan, United States, south of Lansing and west of Detroit. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches, and accredited by the North Central...

 in 1931 and the assistant football coach at Iowa State University

Iowa State University

Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...

 starting in 1932. He was also the head coach of the Iowa State Cyclones baseball

Iowa State Cyclones baseball

Iowa State Cyclones baseball was formerly fielded by Iowa State University from 1892 until the conclusion of the 2001 season. Iowa State ceased to field a team because of what former Iowa State Athletic Director Bruce Van De Velde termed "budget cuts". This was announced on April 2, 2001...

 team from 1935 to 1937. Truskowski led Iowa State's baseball team to consecutive Big Six championships in 1935 and 1936. He later served as the head baseball coach at Wayne State University

Wayne State University

Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...

in 1941 and again from 1946 to 1959.