Mt. Rushmore of Michigan Minor Sports Coaches

Submitted by BursleyHall82 on

What Carol Hutchins has done in softball is remarkable - a Northern school contending and occasionally dominating in a Southern/Western sport. Which got me to thinking: Who's on your Mt. Rushmore of Michigan Minor Sports Coaches?

I'll wait for WD to weigh in with the definitive list, but off the top of my head, I'll go with:

Matt Mann, Men’s Swimming (1925-54) - 13 National Championships

Jon Urbanchek, Men’s Swimming (1982-2004) - 13 Big Ten championships, 1 National Championship

Carol Hutchins, Softball (1985-present) - 16 Big Ten Championships, 1 National Championship

Bev Plocki, Women’s Gymnastics (1989-present) - 18 Big Ten Championships

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drjaws

May 17th, 2015 at 8:04 PM ^

Me.

Wolverines are 56-0 with 4 National titles, 4 B1G titles, 4 Heisman trophies. In fact I have nearly swept the major awards in college football the last 4 years. MSU and OSU have yet to score any points these last 4 years.

EA Sports NCAA Football 2014.



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DrMantisToboggan

May 17th, 2015 at 8:27 PM ^

Our Mt. Rushmore of ALL coaches should be:
1. Yost
2. Crisler
3. Hutchins
4. Schembechler

What she has done at a northern, eastern school is incredible. No sport at Michigan has had such sustained dominance since Yost's football teams. She's incredible.



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DrMantisToboggan

May 17th, 2015 at 9:09 PM ^

Crisler and Yost are the only coaches with winning percentages over .800, and Schembechler did so much in terms of image for football and michigan Athletics in general. You could say the same thing for Red and the hockey program but hockey doesn't have as much of a widespread affect on the university as a whole. I think red is 5th man looking in for me



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Wolverine Devotee

May 17th, 2015 at 8:48 PM ^

Who are you calling minor?

  • Hutch- Built the most dominant softball program in the region and the first one that won a national championship this side of the Mississippi River. The hell with the SEC, Michigan Softball has been doing it a heck of a lot longer and better than anyone from that league of wannabes.
     
  • Ray Fisher- Baseball head coach for 37 years. Was also a multi-year assistant football coach. 1953 National Champion.
     
  • Matt Mann- 14 National Championships. Began a trend of Michigan dominance in the sport of swimming that continues to this day with current coach Mike Bottom's record of 59-3-1
     
  • Bev Plocki- Built a program that has taken over the B1G conference as the most dominant. Almost won a national championship in 1995 and 1999, finishing as runner-up in an era that Georgia and Alabama traded national titles yearly. Plocki has Hutch-like dominance of the B1G conference.

    Michigan has won 20 of the last 24 B1G Championships under Bev Plocki.  

I always hate this "mount rushmore" topic because that means someone gets left out.

I could make the case for wrestling legend Cliff Keen, gymnastics coaches Newt Loken and current head coach Kurt Golder who resurrected the Men's Gymnastics program that was literally on the brink of being eliminated from the university in the 90s and has coached it to 3 of the last 6 National Championships.

 

 

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Canadian

May 18th, 2015 at 12:34 AM ^

Softball is no longer an olympic sport though. And technically basketball and hockey are in the Olympics.
I always go Revenue (football, hockey and Men's basketball) and then non-revenue (everything else).

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rob f

May 17th, 2015 at 10:45 PM ^

but I dare him (or anyone else) to tell that directly to Romo or any of her teammates.  For some reason, I don't think they'd react too kindly to anyone making such a statement face-to-face.

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WolverineInATL

May 17th, 2015 at 11:08 PM ^

Those of you trashing OP for including coaches of "minor" sports shouldn't feel offended. It is pretty much about perception when it comes to the major or minor sports. It is no secret that UM has always put football first with a nice MBB program going on. I love all UM athletics but I know too many fans, UM or not, that really couldn't care less about any program that's not Football, Basketball, and maybe Baseball. It's all preference, I guess.

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claskowski

May 18th, 2015 at 1:25 PM ^

Someone suggested Plocki over Golder because there is more competition in women's gynmastics. I'll second that and suggest Jon Urbanchek over Matt Mann for the same reason. The Ivys and B1G dominated swimming when Mann was there. Urbs (and yes, he is Urbs--not the football coach down south) winning a national title and keeping Michigan in the top 10 nationally is much more impressive when he was doing it, when all of the sprinters (who win in college) went to warm-weather schools--just like what Hutchinson has done in softball. (That's also why Bottom was such a great hire for Michigan. He is one of the best sprint coaches in the world, and Jon was able to stick around to help him "install the spread offense.') Jon's record internationally--putting medal-winning swimmers on national and Olympic teams--is also even more impressive than his college record.

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Zoltanrules

May 18th, 2015 at 2:27 PM ^

Henry James is another UM coaching legend one has to meet. Hutch is the best all around coach period. Other non revenue sport legends: Bev Plocki, Brian Eisner, Urbanchek, Ray Fisher, Jim Richardson, Cliff Kenn, Newt Loken.

Coolest coach Dick Kimball - anyone who jumps off the 10 meter in his 70's on a bike or ladder gets my vote.

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