BATON ROUGE — John Symank, a former LSU football assistant coach and assistant athletic director, passed away at his home in Dauphin Island, Ala., on Wednesday after a battle with cancer. Symank was 66.
Symank joined the LSU athletic staff in December of 1983 as defensive coordinator under Bill Arnsparger. Symank coached the Tigers for three years, helping LSU to the 1986 Southeastern Conference title.
Symank retired from coaching following the 1986 season. He was named assistant to the athletic director at LSU in 1987 and then assumed the responsibility for LSU’s athletic facilities in 1990. Symank was promoted to assistant athletic director at LSU in 1992, a position he held until his retirement in 1997.
A native of Caldwell, Texas, Symank attended Arlington State Junior College, earning all-America honors as a halfback. From there, Symank attended the University of Florida, where he graduated in 1957.
Symank spent six years as a defensive back with the Green Bay Packers, winning a pair of world championship titles in 1961 and 1962 playing for Vince Lombardi. Symank had 19 interceptions with the Packers, with nine coming as a rookie in 1957. Symank also recovered seven fumbles during his career, four coming in 1959.
Symank retired from the NFL following a year with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1963.
After his pro career, Symank joined the coaching ranks, with stints as an assistant coach at Tulane (1964), Virginia (1965), the Atlanta Falcons (1966-68), the New York Giants (1974-78) and the Baltimore Colts (1978-81). Symank served as head coach at Texas-Arlington from 1971-73.
A woodwork and fishing enthusiast, Symank is survived by his wife, Sarah, and three daughters – Sally, Cindy, and Susan, and a son – John.
Visitation will be held next Tuesday at the Phillips and Luckey Funeral Home in Caldwell, Texas. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. on Wednesday in Caldwell.