Coral Gables Top Cop Is a Cane for Life

Actor Dwayne Johnson chats with Ed Hudak at the Orange Bowl in 2007. While most fans know Johnson’s story, they may not be familiar with Hudak. Although there is a 12 year age difference, Johnson and Hudak have much in common. Both were high school football stars in Bethlehem, PA who accepted football scholarships to attend the University of Miami. Long before be became a pro wrestler and box office movie star known as “The Rock, Johnson played defensive tackle for the Miami Hurricanes from 1991 to 1994. While Johnson often portrays a crime fighting superhero in the movies, Hudak is the real deal as the current Chief of Police for the City of Coral Gables. Photo by JC Ridley.

If you’ve ever watched a Hurricane football game over the last 34 years, you may have noticed a large, imposing figure standing next to Miami’s head coach. That man is Ed Hudak. Football was always in his blood. His father Ed Hudak Sr. played on three national championship teams at Notre Dame in the late 1940s under the legendary coach Frank Leahy. When the younger Hudak was a senior at Bethlehem’s Central Catholic High School, he was named to the same Pennsylvania All State team as Dan Marino of Pittsburgh’s Central Catholic High in 1978. Heavily recruited as an offensive lineman, he chose to attend the University of Miami and play for its then new head Howard Schnellenberger in 1979.

But like Dwayne Johnson, Ed Hudak’s college football career didn’t go quite as planned. He was mostly a backup player for the Hurricanes from 1979 to 1982. After graduating with a communications degree from UM in 1983, Hudak started working midnight shifts with the university’s police department while studying for his master’s degree. He developed a love for law enforcement and worked his way up the ranks. While working for the Coral Gables Police Department, Hudak stayed close to the UM football program. In 1988, he was hired as the director of sideline security during Hurricane football games. It’s a job he never relinquished. Over the last 34 years, he has stood by and protected every UM head coach including Jimmy Johnson, Dennis Erickson, Butch Davis, Larry Coker, Randy Shannon, Al Golden, Mark Richt, Manny Diaz and now Mario Cristobal.

On September 11, 2015, Hudak was appointed Chief of Police for the City of Coral Gables. In addition to providing sideline security during Hurricane games, he also serves as a mentor to Miami players. To read more stories about the Orange Bowl, visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ghostsoftheorangebowl