From BpWiki
| Earle Bruce (born March 8, 1931) is a former college football and arena football coach from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Bruce was the successor to legendary Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes, and was an excellent college football coach in his own right. On December 12, 2002, Earle Bruce was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame.
Overall Bruce had a 154-90-2 record, took four different schools to bowl games where he had a 12-5 record, had ten seasons where his teams won nine or more games, and had nine top 20 teams.
Bruce is the author of two books: Earle: A Coach's Life and Buckeye Wisdom.
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[edit] COACHING CAREER
[edit] Ohio State
In 1979, Bruce succeeded his friend and mentor, Woody Hayes, as head coach at Ohio State. In his first year he posted an undefeated regular season, a Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl (a 1 point loss to USC, for the National Championship). In addition to being honored as the Big 10 coach of the year, Bruce was also named National Coach of the Year by both the Football Writers and Coaches Associations.
In his nine seasons at OSU, Bruce's teams
-- Won or shared four Big Ten championships
-- Defeated Michigan 5 times
-- Played in eight bowl games
-- Finished in the top 20 eight times
-- Posted an 81-26-1 record.
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Position
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Years
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Record
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Student
Coach
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1952-1953
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Position
Coach – Def. Backs
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1966-1968
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Position
Coach – Off. Line
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1968-1972
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Head
Coach
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1979-1987
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81-26-1
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[edit] Notable Assistant Coaches
| Dom Capers
| (1982-1983)
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| Pete Carroll
| (1979)
| Secondary
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| Glen Mason
| (1978-1985)
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| Urban Meyer
| (1986-1987)
| Grad. Asst.
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| Fred Pagac
| (1982-2000)
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| Nick Saban
| (1980-1981)
| Defensive Asst.
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| Jim Tressel
| (1983-1985)
| Quarterbacks & Receivers
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| Bob Tucker
| (1979-1984, 2001)
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[edit] High School
Starting in the high school ranks, Bruce was an assistant before becoming a head coach, posting an 82-12-3 record in ten seasons and earning Ohio High School Coach of the Year honors three times.
Though the Massillon Tigers have gained national fame for their football teams over the years, Bruce remains the only undefeated head football coach in Massillon High School history.
Bruce completed his high school coaching career with a 42-game winning streak. He was honored as the Ohio High School Coach of the Year 3 times: 1960, 1964, 1965.
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School
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Years
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Record
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Mansfield Sr. High School
(Asst. Coach)
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1953-1956
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Salem High School
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1956-1959
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28-9-0
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Sandusky High School
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1960-1963
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34-3-3
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Massillon High School
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1964-1965
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20-0-0
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[edit] College (Non-OSU)
After beginning his head coaching career with one season at the University of Tampa, which ended with a 21-18 Tangerine Bowl (Florida Citrus Bowl) win over Kent State, Bruce was hired at Iowa State, where he took a struggling Cyclone Program and guided them to three consecutive eight-win seasons and two Bowl game appearances. In 1978 and 1979, Bruce was named Big-8 Coach of the Year for guiding Iowa State to identical 8-4 records.
After his tenure at Ohio State, he spent one season at Northern Iowa before closing his career at Colorado State, where he took the Rams to their winningest season ever, a 9-4 record in 1990 and the program's first bowl game in 42 years, a victory in the Freedom Bowl.
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School
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Years
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Record
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Tampa University
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1972
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10-2-0
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Iowa State University
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1973-1978
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36-32-0
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University of Northern Iowa
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1988
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5-6
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Colorado State University
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1989-1992
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22-24-1
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[edit] Arena Football League
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Team
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Years
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Record
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Cleveland Thunderbolts
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1994
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2-10-0
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St Louis Stampede
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1995-1996
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17-11-0
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Columbus Destroyers
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2004
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6-10-0
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