History of Michigan assistants becoming HCs
From the SuperGuide, the complete list of Michigan assistants that went on to become head coaches-
Obviously can't post the whole thing here, so here's a little piece of it.
Michigan assistants that went on to win a national championship as a head coach-
| Coach | Title(s) | School | Tree |
| Bennie Oosterbaan | 1948 | Michigan | Crisler |
| Clarence Munn | 1951, 1952 | Michigan State | Crisler |
| Don James | 1991 | Washington | Elliott |
| Bill McCartney | 1990 | Colorado | Schembechler |
| Lloyd Carr | 1997 | Michigan | Schembechler |
| Jack Harbaugh | 2002 | Western Kentucky | Schembechler |
| Les Miles | 2007 | LSU | Schembechler |
| Coach | Career Record | Schools |
| Bennie Owen | 144-56-17 | Bethany College, Oklahoma |
| Dan McGugin | 197-55-19 | Vanderbilt |
| Don James | 178-76-3 | Kent State, Washington |
| Larry Smith | 143-126-7 | Tulane, Arizona, USC, Missouri |
| Jim Young | 120-71-2 | Arizona, Purdue, Army |
| Jack Harbaugh | 116-95-3 | WMU, Western Kentucky |
| Paul Schudel | 130-117-8 | Ball State, Central Conn. St. |
| Don Nehlen | 149-93-4 | West Virginia |
| Lloyd Carr | 122-40-0 | Michigan |
| Les Miles | 139-53 | Oklahoma State, LSU |
December 4th, 2015 at 2:43 PM ^
that DJ Durkin is going to win a NC (or 100 games) at Maryland.
Interesting charts though.
December 4th, 2015 at 2:58 PM ^
December 4th, 2015 at 3:05 PM ^
But I think that's going to be a tall order for any teams not called Michigan, MSU, PSU, or OSU for the foreseeable future.
Also, what is the accepted amount of time an assistant has to spend under one coach to be considered a part of his coaching tree? Is any amount of time considered? Does someone like Miles get included in both Bo's and Mo's trees?
December 4th, 2015 at 3:13 PM ^
3 years seems reasonable enough. Don Nehlen was at Michgan for 3 years and I've got no problem claiming him for Bo. Miles is probably both Bo and Mo but since Bo is the bigger legend people would just say Bo. Unfortunately given Mo's short tenure any of the Bo/Mo combos probably just get shortened to Bo.
Lloyd Carr
Cam Cameron
Les Miles
All these guys would probably say they are on Bo's tree.
December 4th, 2015 at 4:51 PM ^
Gary Moeller is the only Detroit Lions coach to finish over .500 with the Lions since Joe Schmidt, who was dumped by WCF in 1972. You can't count Jim Caldwell because he isn't finished yet. The only reason I can figure for Moeller not getting more chances is that he must not be all that great in interviews.
Ten years from now, I hope we are talking about the Harbaugh Coaching Tree and how great it is.
December 4th, 2015 at 3:06 PM ^
With Durkin and the UA money, Maryland will be an East Coast Oregon in no time. What jobs would be better?
/s
December 4th, 2015 at 2:52 PM ^
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December 4th, 2015 at 3:30 PM ^
December 4th, 2015 at 4:09 PM ^
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December 4th, 2015 at 2:54 PM ^
Larry Smith.
December 4th, 2015 at 2:56 PM ^
Nice Carr tree....
December 4th, 2015 at 2:56 PM ^
retained when he came here in '69?
I always remembered James as being a part of the Bo coaching tree.
December 4th, 2015 at 3:04 PM ^
More specifically, he was already the DC at Colorado in 1968, so he couldn't have been retained (link).
December 4th, 2015 at 3:05 PM ^
I know that they were not assistants at Michigan but both David Nelson and Tubby Raymond from Delaware played at Michigan under Crisler. Both won NCs and both won over 100 games. Heck Tubby Raymond won 3 NCs and 300 games. Hard to not mention the Michigan connection there.
December 4th, 2015 at 3:13 PM ^
December 4th, 2015 at 3:19 PM ^
Those to M Letterwinners turned Delaware into a mini-Michigan at the FCS level. Right down to the helmets.
Is Miles the only former player and former assistant to get a HC gig?
December 4th, 2015 at 3:20 PM ^
Would have to check for more but I know that's not the case as Bennie Oosterbaan was a player (1925-1927), assistant (1928-1947) and head coach (1948-1958).
December 4th, 2015 at 3:28 PM ^
Shoot. I forgot about Oosterbaan and Bump Elliot. They got the trifecta.
December 4th, 2015 at 3:09 PM ^
Wait, Vanderbilt had a period of their history when they went 197-55-19??? In football!!!
December 4th, 2015 at 3:30 PM ^
College football is very old.
December 4th, 2015 at 3:48 PM ^
December 4th, 2015 at 3:12 PM ^
Thanks for the info and sharing the research. You really need to bring this up with the women on dates as they will be impressed.
/jk WD.
December 4th, 2015 at 3:51 PM ^
Under Bo:
Elliott Uzelac- Navy
Chuck Stobart- Toledo
Gary Moeller- Illinois
Bill McCartney- Colorado
Lloyd Carr- Michigan
Under Lloyd
Ron English- EMU
Scott Loeffler- has been OC at VT the last 3 years
December 4th, 2015 at 4:21 PM ^
Doesn't Hoke count under Lloyd? (I think someone above implied that.)
Hoke and RR had 41 loses in 7 years compared to Lloyds 40 in 14 years.
I realize that Lloyd retired, but facts like that make me want schools like Georgia who fire a winning coach like Richt to crater through the center of the earth. Same with LSU had they fired Miles.
December 4th, 2015 at 4:32 PM ^
I agree with you completely.
December 4th, 2015 at 4:38 PM ^
Does Lloyd want Hoke to count?
December 4th, 2015 at 4:31 PM ^
(with the possible exception of Woody Hayes) have a better coaching tree than Schembechler...I know that Bear Bryant's is kinda good (Stallings and McClendon) but not quite this sucessful
December 4th, 2015 at 11:01 PM ^
December 4th, 2015 at 4:54 PM ^
In 1947, George Allen, the NFL hall of fame head coach, was an assistant coach of the University of Michigan football team. Just not the varsity team--the "Sprint Football" team.
This was a separate, non-varsity, sport with one additional rule: all players had to weigh 150 pounds or less. The sport still exists, although not at Michigan, and the weight limit is now 172 pounds.
Michigan won the 1947 Big Ten championship (not officially recognized by the conference) by beating the other 3 conference schools with a team--Illinois, Ohio State and Wisconsin. The head coach was Cliff Keen; Allen was the assistant while working on a Master's degree at Eastern Michigan.
Allen ended up with 116 NFL wins and 53 NCAA wins.