bump elliott
[UM Bentley Library]

Bump Elliott Has Passed Away Comment Count

Seth December 8th, 2019 at 2:51 PM

Beloved halfback, coach and athletic director Chalmers E. "Bump" Elliott died last night at 94.

Bump joined his brother Pete at Michigan after their service in WWII, helping to form the great Mad Magicians backfield, and winning Big Ten MVP en route to a Rose Bowl and back-to-back national championships. As head coach, Bump revitalized a cash-strapped program after a moribund decade. His teams ran under the first banner, and won a Rose Bowl in January 1965. The players he recruited, several of whom are in the college football Hall of Fame, formed the foundation of Bo's early success—a fact that Bo and his staff repeatedly asserted.

Bump later had a quite successful two-decade run as Iowa's athletic director; much of the modern success of the Hawkeyes' football and wrestling programs trace themselves directly to the hires and building projects overseen in Elliott's time.

A man of exceptional modesty, honesty and integrity, Bump was a credit to every institution he served, a friend to every person who knew him, and a role model that two Big Ten programs are still striving to live up to.

Also he did this to Michigan State once:

RIP Bump.

Comments

Merlin.64

December 8th, 2019 at 3:34 PM ^

I attended UM 1964-65 as a grad student. Great football (and basketball) season, capped by an overwhelming victory in the Rose Bowl. We came close to winning the national championship that year. 

Good memories.

Thanks Bump.

Joined: 02/10/2018

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CoverZero

December 8th, 2019 at 4:36 PM ^

Odd, I was just thinking about this possibility earlier this week, due to his age.  And now its happened. RIP Bump.  My dad said he was a good coach, just inconsistent in recruiting.

Joined: 08/30/2014

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Team 101

December 8th, 2019 at 6:28 PM ^

RIP Bump.  He was before my time and I've been around a while.  He was coach when my parents were students.  An AD at Iowa and always a Michigan man.  Probably why Iowa is one of our classiest opponents in the conference.

Joined: 04/15/2013

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1VaBlue1

December 8th, 2019 at 7:05 PM ^

Well, this isn't what I wanted to see when I finally got a chance to sit today.  RIP, Bump.

The sad thing for Bump is that he's largely remembered as the coach that got fired when Bo came.  Only true Michigan fans understand what he meant to the program prior to that low point.  Great player, great administrator, and pretty damn good coach in his own right.

Joined: 01/31/2016

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PeteM

December 8th, 2019 at 7:43 PM ^

The Rose Bowl season is really one of the best in Michigan history.  A 2-point conversion against Purdue kept us from the national championship.  He also brought a lot of great players to Michigan -- Ron Johnson, Jim Mandich, Dan Dierdorf and Thom Darden to name a few.

Joined: 09/15/2008

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You Only Live Twice

December 8th, 2019 at 10:41 PM ^

This is a life well lived.  RIP Legend Bump Elliot.

my Dad came to this country during this time, and became a Michigan scholar and follower of Michigan football.  

Maybe everyone wants to be what we have had.  Nothing takes away what we've built.

Joined: 09/14/2013

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Billmunson

December 9th, 2019 at 1:25 AM ^

Alabama was crowned nat champ b4 the bowls then went on to lose in theirBowl while Mich won the Rose Bowl against #3 Oregon St and could have been rightfully named Nat Champion.

Bump Elliott born in Detroit, All American, All Big Ten, a true Michigan Man. 

Joined: 10/25/2019

MGoPoints: 344

rob f

December 9th, 2019 at 8:07 PM ^

Does that mean we should now claim that National Championship?  I wouldn't be opposed.

Besides, numerous other school would if they wore Michigan shoes.

Much more importantly, though, Rest in Peace, Bump.  You've always been the quintessential "Michigan Man", a true gentleman in every way possible.

It was Bump's Rose Bowl Championship team that started turning me into a Michigan Football fan at age 9 instead of the Notre Dame fan I had been raised to be.

Thank you, Bump!

 

Joined: 11/11/2010

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Billmunson

December 9th, 2019 at 2:31 AM ^

Alabama was crowned nat champ b4 the bowls then went on to lose in theirBowl while Mich won the Rose Bowl against #3 Oregon St and could have been rightfully named Nat Champion.

Bump Elliott born in Detroit, All American, All Big Ten, a true Michigan Man. 

Joined: 10/25/2019

MGoPoints: 344

Blue Vet

December 9th, 2019 at 10:42 AM ^

This sad news goes beyond the Michigan fan base. The New York Times gave Bump a half-page obituary today (Dec. 9), the most space they give all but the most famous.

For me, win or lose, part of the pride in our teams is knowing that the University of Michigan matters beyond sports, beyond famous alums or internationally renowned departments.

Here's the last part of the Times obit:

Amid the pressures of major-college sports, Bump Elliott was a low-key, affable figure.

“If he wanted to, Bump could have made life very difficult for me,” the hard-driving Bo Schembechler recalled in telling of his debut as Elliott’s successor at Michigan.

“His players loved him, really loved him, and remember, that first year I was coaching all his players,” Schembechler said in “Bo’s Lasting Lessons,” (2007), written with John U. Bacon. “Bump was a former All-American and a whole lot nicer than I was. They could have complained to him — he was still working in the athletic office — and I bet some of them tried, but he would have none of it. He made it clear to everyone that he was on my side.”

 

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