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From Woody's Couch

Our Playbook on OSU History

Category: Football (page 6 of 9)

Part I: Rising to the top of their class in college coaching

October 5, 2012 / / Comments Off on Part I: Rising to the top of their class in college coaching

Wes Fesler, 1947

College football has had many legendary head coaches – Bobby Bowden, Paul “Bear” Bryant, and Woody Hayes, just to name a few. Other coaching legends got their start here at OSU as assistants: Lou Holtz, Bo Schembechler, and Glen Mason, for example. The list also includes Earle Bruce, Jim Tressel, Luke Fickell, and Urban Meyer, who all returned to OSU as head coaches.

This week we’re highlighting some of the lesser-known college coaching stories that began here at Ohio State:

Wes Fesler was a three-sport letter winner while a student at Ohio State, and continued on to become a coach in two of those sports. After serving as an assistant when Sam Willaman was head coach at OSU in the early 1930s, Fesler became head football coach at Wesleyan University, then University of Pittsburgh, then Ohio State, where he served as head coach from 1947 to 1950. Next up was the University of Minnesota, where he served as head coach for three years. Fesler also coached basketball at Harvard and Princeton.

Bill Mallory served as an assistant coach under Woody Hayes from 1966-1968. Mallory went on to coach at Miami (OH), Colorado, and Northern Illinois. In 1984 Mallory began his term at Indiana University and went on to become its most successful coach with 69 wins. Mallory left Indiana in 1996.

Bill Mallory with football group, 1968

Glen Mason also served under Hayes as an assistant. Mason went on to coach at Kent State, Kansas, and Minnesota. After coaching, Mason worked as an analyst and broadcaster on the Big Ten Network.

Glen Mason, 1978

Ron Zook had a long coaching career in both the NCAA and the NFL. Zook was an assistant for seven college teams before becoming an assistant for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1996. After moving around in the NFL, Zook was named head coach at the University of Florida in 2002. In 2005 Zook took over as head coach of the University of Illinois, where he led the Illini to their first ever back-to-back bowl game wins.

Ron Zook, 1989

Currently you can watch the following former assistant coaches – Nick  Saban (Alabama), Mark Dantonio (Michigan State), and Mark “Bo” Pelini (Nebraska) – pace the sidelines each Saturday.

But that’s not where Ohio State’s influence in football coaching ends. Read about former OSU assistant coaches who later hit the big time in the NFL in next week’s blog.

Early 20th century art – on football programs?

September 28, 2012 / / Comments Off on Early 20th century art – on football programs?

Thurber’s cover art for the 1936 football program

If you’ve ever looked at old OSU football program covers, you’ll notice how arty they were. That’s because they were drawn by actual artists, including two OSU alums who went onto to successful careers using those artistic skills.

James Thurber was one of them, and the one football program cover he drew was actually done after he’d become a well-known author and illustrator. The football program was issued in conjunction with the Nov. 21, 1936, game against Michigan.

At the time of this football program’s debut, James Thurber was associate editor of The New Yorker, and a prominent author, having published two books, “Is Sex Necessary?” and “My Life and Hard Times.” Thurber also was well-known for his illustrations, although they generally received more attention for their humor than their artistic merit.

Thurber was born in Columbus and attended OSU, but withdrew in 1918 before completing his coursework shortly before the onset of World War I. With the outbreak of the war, he became a code clerk for the American Embassy in Paris. In 1926 he relocated to New York to work for the Evening Post, and the following year left to pursue his position at The New Yorker.

Caniff’s cover from 1927

Meanwhile, Milton Caniff has quite a few football program covers that bear his name from his student years at OSU in the late 1920s. During that time he also served as art director of the Makio and the Sundial, an OSU student humor magazine. He graduated in 1930 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He later went on to draw “Terry and the Pirates” and later “Steve Canyon,” probably his most famous comic strip. That strip ran for more than 40 years.

Both alumni received honorary degrees from the University.

Want to see how arty those football programs really were? Go here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ohio-state-university-archives/sets/

For the record: Former Buckeyes whose achievements on the field still stand

September 21, 2012 / / Comments Off on For the record: Former Buckeyes whose achievements on the field still stand

Still celebrating Braxton Miller’s game winning 72-yard touchdown pass to Devin Smith in last week’s victory over California? We all are. But that amazing feat prompted us to remember some of the Buckeyes’ all-time record leaders:

Let’s start with passing: The longest passing play in Buckeye history happened 33 years ago tomorrow, on September 22, 1979, when Art Schlichter threw to Calvin Murray for 86 yards. Calvin Murray also holds the record for longest pass reception for this play, which helped lead to a 45-29 win over Washington State University. Art Schlichter also holds the record for the most career passing yards at 7,547 from 1978-1981.

Art Schlichter prepares to make a pass (Calvin Murray is on his right), September 22, 1979.

Gene Fekete, 1942

As for rushing, the longest rushing play in Ohio State history happened on November 7, 1942, when the Buckeyes played the Pittsburgh Panthers. Gene Fekete ran for 89 yards against the Pitt defense, but failed to score a touchdown. The Buckeyes still won the game, 59-19.

Archie Griffin still tops Ohio State’s record books for his career rushing total of 5,589 yards.

Brian Hartline has the record for the longest punt return – 90 yards – in a 48-3 win over Kent State University on October 13, 2007.

Let’s switch to kicking: The record for the longest kickoff return was set October 9, 1943, by Dean Sensanbaugher (not to be confused with Dane Sanzenbacher), running for 103 yards. The Buckeyes lost the game to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center with a score of 6-13. Tom Skladany set the record for the longest field goal at 59 yards on November 8, 1975, in a 40-3 win over the University of Illinois.

On the defense, Marcus Marek set the record for career total tackles at 572. Of that total, 256 were solo tackles while 316 were assisted. One of our current assistant coaches, Mike Vrabel, holds the record for the most quarterback sacks at 36.

Marcus Marek, 1979

So Buckeye fans, who do you think will join this list of history makers?

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