Earle Bruce

College coach infobox


Name = Earle Bruce
| Caption =
DateOfBirth = birth date and age|1931|3|8
Birthplace = Cumberland, Maryland
DateOfDeath =
Sport = American football
College =
Title =
CurrentRecord =
Awards =
Championships =
CFbDWID = 269
Player = Y
Years = 1951
Team = Ohio State University
Position = Running Back
FootballHOF = 2002
Coach = Y
CoachYears = 1972
1973-78
1979-87
1988
1989-92
CoachTeams = University of Tampa
Iowa State University
Ohio State University
University of Northern Iowa
Colorado State University

Earle Bruce (born March 8, 1931) is a former college football and arena football coach from Cumberland, Maryland. Bruce was the successor to legendary Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes. In 2002, Earle Bruce was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame.

As a player and player/coach

Bruce was recruited as a full back at the Ohio State University by head coach Wes Fesler. He played on the OSU freshman team in 1950, but before he could join the varsity team in 1951 he suffered a torn meniscus, ending his football career. Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes asked Bruce to join the coaching staff, which he did until his graduation in 1953. He was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity while attending Ohio State.

Coaching career

Bruce would accumulate a collegiate coaching record of 144-88-2 with a total of five universities. [ [http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_year_by_year.php?coachid=269 All-Time Coaching Records by Year] , cfbdatawarehouse.com. Retrieved November 17, 2007.] Preceding that, however, Earle Bruce was also one of the most successful high school football coaches in Ohio history, accumulating a record of 82-12-3 in 10 seasons of head coaching positions with three Ohio high schools.cite web |url=http://www.massillontigers.com/history.htm |title=Massillon Tigers CyberRevue |accessdate=2007-11-17 ] He led four different college teams to bowl games, where he had a 12-5 record.

High school coaching

Upon graduating from Ohio State, Bruce accepted a position as an assistant coach at Mansfield High School in Mansfield, Ohio.cite book
last = Park
first = Jack
title = The Official Ohio State Football Encyclopedia: National Championship Edition
publisher = Sports Publishing LLC
year = 2003
isbn = 1582616957 ] In 1956, Bruce accepted his first head coaching position, at Salem High School in Salem, Ohio. Over the next four seasons, he led the Quakers [ [http://historymakers.webepi.com/boxinfo.asp?ID=31 SalemHistoryMakers.com] , accessed November 17, 2007.] to a record of 28-9. From 1960 until 1963, Bruce coached the Blue Streaks at Sandusky High School, Sandusky, Ohio. He compiled a record at Sandusky of 34-3-3.

Massillon High School then hired Bruce as head coach, where his teams went undefeated in 1964 and 1965. Though the Massillon Tigers have gained national fame for their football teams over the years, [ [http://www.versus.com/nw/article/view/40923/?UserDef=true&catID=79 Greatest HS Football Rivalries] , a documentary series produced by NFL Films. Summary at Versus' website. Accessed November 17, 2007] Bruce remains the only undefeated head football coach in Massillon High School history.

College coaching

Hayes then hired Bruce back to Ohio State as a position coach for the offensive line and later defensive backs. After five seasons the University of Tampa brought Bruce on as head coach in 1972. During his first season, Tampa went 10-2, including a win in the Tangerine Bowl. Bruce moved into the head coaching position at Iowa State University following his success at Tampa. Iowa State experienced some success in six seasons with Bruce as head coach. In 2000, Iowa State inducted Bruce into their school hall of fame, named the Louis Menze Hall of Fame.

Ohio State

After Woody Hayes was fired from Ohio State, Bruce was offered that head coaching position. Bruce coached Ohio State from 1979–1987. In the first year, Ohio State went undefeated in the regular season and played in the Rose Bowl, losing the game and the national championship by a single point. In 1987, he was fired just prior to the last game of the season—against Michigan—but was allowed to finish out the year. Bruce was able to defeat Michigan at Ann Arbor. This is something Ohio State would not do again until 2001 under head coach Jim Tressel. After the game, Bo Schembechler told Bruce, "I always mind losing to Ohio State but I didn't mind so much today."

After Ohio State

Bruce took over the head coaching position at the University of Northern Iowa for one year, and then finished his intercollegiate coaching career at Colorado State University. In his second season, he led the Rams to a winning record and a victory over Oregon in the Freedom Bowl, their first bowl appearance since 1948 and their first bowl victory ever. He was fired two years later for verbally harassing and punching his players. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7D91E30F935A15752C1A964958260 SPORTS PEOPLE: COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Colorado State Lists Charges Against Bruce - New York Times ] ] . After Colorado State, he moved on to the Arena Football League, where he coached the Cleveland Thunderbolts in 1994 and the St. Louis Stampede in 1995 and 1996 before retiring.

Head Coaching Record

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1973
name = Iowa State
overall = 4-7-0
conference = 2-5
confstanding = T-6th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1974
name = Iowa State
overall = 4-7-0
conference = 2-5
confstanding = 6th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1975
name = Iowa State
overall = 4-7-0
conference = 1-6
confstanding = 7th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1976
name = Iowa State
overall = 8-3-0
conference = 4-3
confstanding = T-4th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = 18
ranking2 = 19

championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1977
name = Iowa State
overall = 8-4-0
conference = 5-2
confstanding = T-2nd
bowlname = Peach
bowloutcome = L 14-24
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1978
name = Iowa State
overall = 8-4-0
conference = 4-3
confstanding = T-3rd
bowlname = Hall of Fame Classic
bowloutcome = L 12-28
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1979
name = Ohio State
overall = 11-1-0
conference = 8-0
confstanding = 1st
bowlname = Rose
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl = yes
ranking = 4
ranking2 = 4

championship = conference

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1980
name = Ohio State
overall = 9-3-0
conference = 7-1
confstanding = T-2nd
bowlname = Fiesta
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl = yes
ranking = 15
ranking2 = 15

championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1981
name = Ohio State
overall = 9-3-0
conference = 6-2
confstanding = T-1st
bowlname = Liberty
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 12
ranking2 = 15

championship = conference

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1982
name = Ohio State
overall = 9-3-0
conference = 7-1
confstanding = 2nd
bowlname = Holiday
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 12

ranking2 = 12

championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1983
name = Ohio State
overall = 9-3-0
conference = 6-3
confstanding = 4th
bowlname = Fiesta
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl = yes
ranking = 8

ranking2 = 9

championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1984
name = Ohio State
overall = 9-3-0
conference = 7-2
confstanding = 1st
bowlname = Rose
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl = yes
ranking = 12

ranking2 = 13

championship = conference

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1985
name = Ohio State
overall = 9-3-0
conference = 5-3
confstanding = T-4th
bowlname = Citrus
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 11

ranking2 = 14

championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1986
name = Ohio State
overall = 10-3-0
conference = 7-1
confstanding = T-1st
bowlname = Cotton
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 6

ranking2 = 7

championship = conference

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1987
name = Ohio State
overall = 6-4-1
conference = 4-4
confstanding = 5th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =

ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1988
name = Northern Iowa
overall = 5-6-0

conference = 3-3
confstanding = 4th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1989
name = Colorado State
overall = 5-5-1
conference = 4-3
confstanding = T-5th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1990
name = Colorado State
overall = 9-4-0
conference = 6-1
confstanding = 2nd
bowlname = Freedom
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1991
name = Colorado State
overall = 3-8-0
conference = 2-6
confstanding = T-8th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1992
name = Colorado State
overall = 5-7-0
conference = 3-5
confstanding = T-7th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 =
championship =

Post-Retirement

In 2004, Bruce came out of retirement to return to become the head coach for the Arena Football League's Destroyers, who were moving from Buffalo to Columbus that year. He retired to a front office position after coaching the Destroyers to a 6–10 record in 2004, and was replaced as head coach by Chris Spielman, who played for Bruce at Ohio State. Bruce finished with a 19–25 record over four seasons in the AFL.

Today, Bruce works as an Ohio State football analyst for WTVN 610AM in Columbus as well as being an analyst for ONN on their OSU programming.

In his private life, Earle Bruce is married with four children and eight grandchildren.

References

External links

* [http://collegefootball.org/famersearch.php?id=80047 College Football Hall of Fame biography of Earle Bruce]
* [http://ohiostatebuckeyes.collegesports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/081403aab.html Ohio State University announcement of Hall of Fame induction]
* [http://www.cyclonefootball.org/traditions/hall/ Iowa State Louis Menze Hall of Fame]