Cradle of Coaches

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, Bill Narduzzi, Randy Walker, John Harbaugh, Gary Moeller, Larry Smith, Dick Tomey, Sean Payton, Terry Hoeppner, and Sean McVay.

Miami fields a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision 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 has also produced notable basketball coaches Darrell Hedric, Randy Ayers, Herb Sendek, Thad Matta and Sean Miller. Hedric, currently a scout for the Toronto Raptors, is an Ohio and Cincinnati Basketball Hall of Famer and holds the record for Miami victories. Ayers was a four-year starter for Miami, leading the team to back-to-back NCAA appearances in 1977 and 1978, and later served as a head coach for Ohio State and assistant coach in the National Basketball Association. Sendek began his head coaching career at Miami and led the RedHawks to the postseason in each of his three seasons. Matta, formerly the head coach at Ohio State, was an assistant under Sendek for one memorable year that included a regular season MAC championship and NCAA tournament appearance, and also for one year under then-head coach Charlie Coles.

Baseball Hall of Fame manager Walter Alston is also a graduate of Miami. Legendary University of Tennessee basketball coach Ray Mears is a graduate of Miami. Additionally, hockey coach George Gwozdecky served as head coach at Miami prior to leaving for Denver, where he won two national championships.

The Cradle of Coaches also was the subject of sports documentary film that aired on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (Ohio) in 2015.[1] The film captured the story of John Harbaugh's induction as well as perspective from other members.

Official members of "The Cradle"

Induction year Name Sport (current coaching position) Miami class of
1992 Weeb Ewbank * Football 1928
1992 Bob Kurz † Football 1958
1992 Bill Narduzzi Football 1959
1992 John Pont Football 1952
1993 Paul Brown Football 1930
1993 Mel Knowlton Football 1937
1993 Ara Parseghian Football 1949
1994 Bill Arnsparger Football 1950
1994 Paul Dietzel Football 1948
1994 Jack Llewellyn Football
1995 Jack Faulkner Football
1995 Joe Codiano Football
1995 Bill Mallory Football 1957
1996 John Brickels Football
1996 Hal Paul
1996 Dick Shrider Basketball
1997 Jerry Hanlon Football 1956
1997 John McVay Football
1997 Frank Shands
1998 Carmen Cozza Football, baseball 1952
1998 Marvin Moorehead
1998 Ernie Plank Football 1950
2001 Dick Crum Football
2001 Darrell Hedric Basketball 1955
2001 Lou Kaczmarek Football 1950
2001 Rich Voiers Basketball 1957
2001 Walter Alston Baseball 1935
2001 Earl Blaik Football 1918
2001 Leann Davidge Tennis
2001 Woody Hayes Football
2001 Raymond Ray
2001 George Rider Football, baseball, basketball, track, cross country
2001 William Rohr Basketball
2002 Peggy Bradley-Doppes Volleyball (UNC Wilmington Director of Athletics)
2002 Denny Marcin Football (New York Jets) 1964
2002 Nick Mourouzis Football (DePauw) 1959
2002 Jim Rose Basketball 1951
2002 Marvin McCollum Basketball 1948
2002 Ron Zook Football 1976
2004 Rodger Cromer
2004 Carol Clark Johnson
2004 Clarence McDade
2004 Ron Niekamp Basketball (Findlay) 1972
2004 Bo Schembechler Football 1951
2006 George Dales
2006 George Gwozdecky Ice Hockey (University of Denver)
2006 Danny Hall Baseball (Georgia Tech)
2006 Bob Kappes
2006 Stephen Strome
2006 Randall Whitehead
2008 Terry Hoeppner Football
2008 Randy Walker Football
2011 Jerry Angelo Football
2011 Elaine Hieber
2011 Dave Jennings Swimming
2011 Rob Patrick
2011 Gary Quisno
2011 Pam Wettig
2014 John Harbaugh 1984

* Weeb Ewbank played football, basketball and baseball at Miami, and coached the basketball team before becoming an established football coach.
† Bob Kurz wrote "Miami of Ohio - the Cradle of Coaches" book

Super Bowl winning former head coach John Harbaugh was inducted in their Hall of Fame in 2014.[2]

Evolution

Recently the nickname has been applied by journalists to the entire state.[3] Ohio-linked coaches are involved with football programs in the Southeastern Conference, including national championship coaches Les Miles at LSU; Cincinnati alum Urban Meyer, formerly at Florida and currently at Ohio State; and Kent State alum Nick Saban at Alabama.[3] National championship coach Bob Stoops from Oklahoma is a native, former USC head coach Pete Carroll was an Ohio State assistant, and Youngstown State alum Mark Mangino was named the 2007 National Coach of the Year as the head coach of Kansas before returning to YSU as an assistant in 2013.[3] Jim Harbaugh of the University of Michigan, Bo Pelini of Nebraska and Gary Pinkel of Missouri are also native Ohioans, and in 2008 the natives of the state comprised 15% of the college head football coaches, while only having 4% of the population, and 15 of the last 20 teams to play for the college football national championship had head coaches with Ohio connections.[3]

The Cradle of Coaches sculpture group

A sculptural group called The Cradle of Coaches, by sculptor Kristen Visbal, was erected at Miami University between 2009 and 2011, with one addition in 2014. It comprises ten 120% lifesize statues of Earl Blaik, Paul Brown, Carm Cozza, Paul Dietzel, Weeb Ewbank, John Harbaugh, Ara Parseghian, John Pont, Glenn Schembechler, and Thomas Van Voorhis.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Twitter (January 1, 2015). "Time Warner Cable Sports Channel will have an hour long documentary on the Cradle of Coaches". Miami University. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  2. ↑ Associated Press (February 26, 2013). "Miami (OH) to honor John Harbaugh". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 26, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Darren Everson. "Why Ohio Makes the Best Coaches". Wall Street Journal, December 25, 2008. Retrieved September 11, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Cradle of Coaches". Kristen Visbal. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
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