Throwback Thursday: Cradle of Coaches

In 1959, Bob Kurz was in charge of publicity for Miami University(OH). He was tasked with writing a news release each week that would preview the upcoming football game. Every preview seemed to convey the exact same thought and he needed a new angle. "I searched and searched and searched," Kurz said. "And of a sudden it hit me." Cradle of Coaches.

Most people probably think of Ben Roethlisberger long before they think of the simply amazing line of coaches that called Oxford home. The impact of some of the coaches still live today. The schemes of those that are gone and the coaching of those that are still around. The list is incredible: 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, John Harbaugh, Gary Moeller, Larry Smith, Dick Tomey, Sean Payton, Terry Hoeppner. Amazing.

Sid Gillman and Paul Brown influenced football as much or more than any other coach in history. A Mt. Rushmore of coaches would include those two. Brown, Weeb Ewbank, Sean Payton, and now John Harbaugh have won NFL titles. Earl Blaik, Woody Hayes, Ara Paraseghian, Jim Tressel, and Paul Dietzel combined for about a dozen national collegiate titles. Gillman, Brown, and Ewbank are honored in Canton, not far from the school that they once called home. 

One would think that a school that has been part of the lives of some of the greatest coaches that the game has ever seen would be better known. Unfortunately, this Mid-American Conference school is too small to be a destination for talented football coaches. The coaches may love the place but their skills are screaming for a bigger stage. We know of these coaches for where they ended up not for where they'd been. Miami University should be proud to be the Cradle of Coaches.