Cradle of Coaches

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The Cradle of Coaches is a nickname given to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio for producing star football coaches including Earl Blaik, Paul Brown, Woody Hayes, Bill Arnsparger, George Little, Weeb Ewbank, Sid Gillman, Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler, John Pont, Carmen Cozza, Bill Mallory, Jim Tressel, Joe Novak, Ron Zook, Dick Crum, Paul Dietzel, Randy Walker, Terry Hoeppner, and Sean Payton.

Miami University fields a Division I-A football program in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Miami started playing football in 1888 but did not have a paid coach until C. K. Fauver in 1895.

Miami University has also produced notable basketball coaches Darrell Hedric, and Randy Ayers. Miami can also count Herb Sendek as a former head coach and Thad Matta as as a former assistant coach. Sendek began his head coaching career at Miami and led the RedHawks to the postseason in each of his three seasons. Matta was an assistant under Sendek for one memorable year that included a regular season MAC championship and NCAA tournament appearance and also under current head coach Charlie Coles. Ayers was a four-year starter for Miami, leading the team to back-to-back NCAA appearances in 1977 and 1978. Hedric, currently a scout for the Toronto Raptors, is a Ohio and Cincinnati Basketball Hall of Famer and still holds the record for Miami victories.

Baseball Hall of Fame Manager Walter Alston is also a graduate of Miami and current University of Denver head hockey coach George Gwozdecky was head hockey coach at Miami prior to leaving for Denver.