RIP Earle Bruce
Passed this morning at 87. FWIW I met coach Bruce several years ago when I got invited to play golf in the Scarlet & Grey golf classic. I was wearing a Michigan polo (so I was obviously loved by all the OSU players that day) and on one hole coach Bruce and I were waiting to tee off and we both were having a beer while we waited.
I told him "hey coach - I was at your last game rooting obviously for Michigan. You were down 14-0 and came back to win. I thought you got hosed by OSU so it didnt bother me as much that we ended up losing that day."
He looked at me for a second and then barked loudly. "IT WAS 13-0. I REMEMBER EVERY GOD DAMN PLAY OF THAT GAME." Then he stopped for a second and said softly "you know - Bo told me that was the only game he didnt mind losing to OSU. I've never forgotten that."
He was our rival but I respected the hell out of him. RIP coach Bruce - say hi to Bo for us today.
Coach Bruce got pretty buzzed that over the course of that day (it was hot as hell and coach Bruce liked his beer) so my fairly small co-worker who was playing with me decided he would mess with him near the end of the day by telling him he played for him (as a kicker) and was hurt that he didnt remember him.
When he said this coach Bruce looked him up and down and said (again very loudly) "YOU NEVER PLAYED FOR ME. YOU'RE A FUCKING LIAR. I REMEMBER EVERY PLAYER WHO DID - EVEN THE STUPID FUCKING KICKERS" and then he started laughing like hell.
He was a lot of fun to play with (even for a buckeye) and every player (and i mean EVERY player) came up to him and gave him a hug at some point during the day and you could tell there was genuine and real affection for the man.
And let his brother know that Earle was nice as hell to a random nobody wearing a Michigan polo shirt of all things playing golf in the Scarlet & Grey classic.
One last nugget. At the end of the day before we ate dinner coach Bruce asked me if I had ever been in the clubhouse before (obvously I hadnt) so he encouraged me to explore a little bit and not just stay in the dining hall. They had some amazing old pictures of Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf from their playing days at OSU that were definitely worth a visit.
when he coached at Colorado State. He was a character, but did a great job up there and I thought he got screwed over at the end.
Loved it when his team wore "EARLE" headbands for his final game at Michigan Stadium.
Everyone invoved in story spoke with class.
I read this story and was touched by how much it meant to him to "dot the I" back in 2016.
"I never thought it would happen for me"
http://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/former-osu-head-coach-earle-bruce-…
You don’t think Bo loved Woody or Earl? I am sure Harbaugh has huge respect for Urban.
Fans are just fucking assholes and they don’t even play a second of the game.
was a friggin monster. God bless he was good
EB seemed to be a classy, good person. He definitely got hosed by the school when he was fired. I remember how Bob Ufer used to refer to him as Earle "Darth Vader" Bruce, but I don't where BU came up with that or why. Probably just a good natured jab at a rival. RIP Coach.
Hell of a character, hilarious, one of the nicest men I've ever met.
People like Earle Bruce are what make this rivalry great.
RIP, Mr. Bruce.
And thank you for running your mouth at the televised pep rally the night before the 1996 game in Columbus, which our players watched from their hotel rooms and got fired up over and then held the OSU offense to 3 field goals.
My opinion on Earle Bruce changed forever when I watched the HBO Michigan v Ohio State documentary. At a lunch the day before the 2006 game "we lost a good coach, good man and good father" when asking the attendees to bow their head to acknowlege Bo's passing. Hopefully he can find Bo and Woody then fire up a projector.
thought he was a good guy and an underrated coach. Tough job having to take over for Woody Hayes...
RIP Coach Bruce.
April 20th, 2018 at 10:56 AM ^
The invovlement of one of the great Michigan Men of all time in that affair.
At the time of Earle Bruce's dismissal, the Ohio State Athletic Director was former Michigan wrestler, football player and wresting coach Rick Bay.
Here's the Wikipedia page for Rick Bay; one of the greatest student-athletes and athletics administrators ever to be produced by the University of Michigan.
When the OSU trustees told Rick Bay that he needed to fire Earle Bruce and hire a new coach, Bay resigned in protest.
April 20th, 2018 at 10:26 AM ^
and I definitely admired his life after coaching - took up the cause of fundraising for Alzheimer's research which is unfortunately what he contracted himself in 2017.
A life well lived.
Here's a crazy stat (saw this on reddit). 11 of the last 16 National Championships have been won by a one-time Bruce assistant coach. Carroll, Saban, Meyer, Tressel.
April 20th, 2018 at 10:24 AM ^
Fuck Ohio State, but God bless Earl Bruce. I know his wife died of alzheimers as well. Never met him, but enjoyed hearing his commentary when talking about The Game. He truly understood what it meant to be a part of the tradition and history of the rivalry. I hope his family finds peace in knowing their father was a good man.
April 20th, 2018 at 10:36 AM ^
April 20th, 2018 at 11:01 AM ^
Well respected by anyone in the know in Blue.
Peace.
April 20th, 2018 at 11:11 AM ^
April 20th, 2018 at 11:16 AM ^
Yes, and I thought he got shafted when fired... was the only buckeye with class... RIP
April 20th, 2018 at 11:25 AM ^
RIP Coach
April 20th, 2018 at 11:45 AM ^
April 21st, 2018 at 10:16 AM ^
April 21st, 2018 at 10:41 AM ^
April 20th, 2018 at 11:56 AM ^
It was a sad day for Michigan when Earle was fired.
He did seem like a good guy though . RIP
I am not trying to be insensitive when I type that I thought he had already passed....
#mandelaeffect
Class act. R.I.P. coach
I was a manager for the 1980 team. A group of us went up to the press box before the Purdue game that year, which was one week before the OSU game. He said something to the effect that he needed a nickname for him because he had one for Woody ("Dr. Stangehayes"). He chose Darth Vader because he thought EB's scowl gave him that look.
in 1979 and 1981 in Ann Arbor.
For a time there it looked like home field advantage in The Game didn't mean shit.
The 1979 game with Jim Laughlin blocking Bryan Virgil's punt and Todd Bell picking it up and scoring - I will just never forget it. Ripped my heart out. And I will always remember Earle Bruce's name for that.
It wasn't exactly his team. It was mostly Woody's recruits. But Ohio State was 7-4-1 from the prior year and Bruce kicked their asses around to 11-0. They lost the Rose Bowl by one point that year.
Bruce didn't know it yet, but that was a tough time to join Ohio State. The scholarship limits were hitting the traditional power teams, and other Big Ten programs like Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Purdue and Wisconsin all started to surge in talent, power and competitiveness, and some of these "Little 8" teams defeated Ohio State with Earle Bruce at the helm - often their first wins over Ohio State since the 1960s.
Wisconsin, not Michigan, was the greatest bane of Earle Bruce's Big Ten coaching career.
But Earle Bruce was like Moeller to me in the sense that he wanted Ohio State to move toward the modern era and throw the ball a crap ton more. He reduced the option plays and started throwing the ball more, molding and recruiting good quarterbacks and receivers to do it - Mike Tomczak, Jim Karsatos, John Frank, Chris Carter, Thad Jemison.
Bruce finished 5-4 vs. Michigan
7-2 vs. Illinois
8-1 vs Indiana
5-2 vs Iowa
6-1 vs MSU
8-1 vs Minnesota
0-1 vs Penn State
6-1 vs Purdue
But 4-5 vs. Wisconsin
RIP Mr. Bruce.