ThE MICHIGAN DAILY THURSDAY SEPT OOSTERBAAN HEADS GROUP: Former Wolverines Handle 'lW Coaching CI " _ $.: #'rhumalsnda " x'"gr°'.4 i . ' 2 r . , ...., .( it < " ,ii By GARY GUSSIN This year's Wolverines have no further to look for symbols of Michigan grid tradition than their own coaching staff. All but one of Michigan's grid coaches played on Big Ten cham- pionship teams, and four played with Rose Bowl champions. Moreover, the contribution of these men to Michigan athletics is not limited to football. Four of the coaches excelled in other sports, and two, head coach Bennie Oosterbaan and line coach Jack Blott, are considered all-time greats in baseball as well as foot- ball. Keen Aids Team Cliff Keen, an assistant-coach, is the one man who never played football at Michigan, but as wrestl- ing coach for 33 years 1* has be- come a Wolverine legend in him- self. Any listing'of the coaches' indi- vidual achievements would have to begin with those of Oosterbaan. He could safely be ranked among the greatest collegiate athletes of all time. A nine-letter man at Michigan, Oosterbaan is the only Wolverine to be chosen All-American three years in a row. In addition, he was an All-American basketball player, and a standout on the diamond. Coach Ranked High Former baseball coach Ray Fisher .called Oosterbaan one of the, two greatest players he ever coached, while former track coach, the late Steve Farrell, rated him as a top Olympic prospect in the discus. Oosterbaan was born in Muske- gon, Mich., where as a high school athlete he earned All-America honors in basketball and was an All-State gridder and track man. At Michigan in 1925, 1926, and 1927, he earned further honors, in the first two years as receiver in the famed "Benny to Bennie" (Friedman to Oosterbaan) passing combination. In 1927 he captained the Wolverines. When Oosterbaan graduated, he turned down pro football and base- ball offers to become a coach at Michigan. In 1948, he took over head coaching duties from 'Fritz Crisler, Michigan Athletic Director, and guided the Wolverines through an undefeatedseason. This feat earned him the honor of "Coach of the Year," a title Crisler had won the previous year. During his ten years a head coach, Oosterbaan's teams have won or tied for the Conference champion- ship three times, have won one Rose ;Bowl championship, and boast an overall percentage of .704. All-American.Pick During his tenure as Michigan's head coach, Oosterbaan's won, lost and tied record produces a .600 plus average which gives him a ranking in the top 20 coaches in the country. In 1951, sportswriters and sports- casters throughout the nation selected Oosterbaan for the all- time All-American team, another honor in a great college career. Line coach Blott, an All-Ameri- can center on the 1923 Big Ten championship squad, is the other of the two greatest baseball play- ers coached by Fisher. Blotthwas catcher and captain of Michigan's diamond squad and caught briefly for the Cincinnati Redlegs before returning to Michi- gan in 1925 as an assistant coach. He left Michigan the next year only, to return-again-in 1930. 'M' MASTERMINDS--Backfield coach Bump Elliott (left), and head coach Bennie Oosterb (talking to players at right) will provide the techniques and training for this year's Michigan fo ball team. Both are former All-American gridders from Wolverine championship teams. For the next four years he helped develop conference championship teams, but he left to become head coach at Wesleyan University. In 1946, he returned to coach under Crisler and is now entering his 14th consecutive year as Wol- verine line' coach. Some of the great linemen he has coached include Maynard 'Morrison, Chuck Bernard, and Francis and Alvin. Wistert. Chalmers "Bump" Elliott, back- field coach, is another member of the staff who competed in more than one sport. In 1946 and 1947, after serving in the Marines, Elliott played on Wolverine basball and football teams. In 1947, he led the Conference in scoring with nine touchdowns and was named to the coaches' All-American, squad. His brother Pete, now head coach at California, was a 12-letter man at Michigan, and was an All- America choice in 1948. "Bump's" own coaching experience includes six years under Forest Evashevski at Iowa, and one year here at Michigan. Versatile Mentor End Coach Matt Patanelli is no less versatile than any of his colleagues. An all-conference end in 1935 and 1936, Patanelli also played basketball for three years and baseball for two. He was named Michigan's most valuable gridder in 1936, and re-; ceived honorable mention on Grantland Rice's All-America that year. In addition to coaching football, he is assistant basketball coach and freshman baseball coach. Since coming to Michigan, he has coach such top ends as Ron Kra- mer, To Maentz, Lowell Perry and Dick ifenburg' End Star Returned Bob Hollway, an outstanding defensive end, played on the Wol- verine Conference championship teams of 1947, 1948 and 1949, be- fore joining the Wolverine coach- ing staff in 1953 as assistant line' coach. Previously, he had helped coach the Michigan -freshman squad, and had been line coach at the Univer- sity of Maine and at Eastern Mich- igan College. Don Dufek did not go out for football as a sophomore, but as Wolverine fullback for the next two seasons he was noted for his driving play. In the 1951 Rose Bowl game, his two touchdowns helped bring victory to an underdog Wol- verine squad. In 1954, Dufek returned to Michigan as assistant backfield 'coach after an earlier stint at Ann Arbor high school. Freshman coach Wally Weber has been on the Wolverine coach- ing staff since 1931. A fullback on Wolverine championship squads of 1925 and 1926, Weber was 'a highly successful high school coa'ch before coming back to Michigan. He is noted for his geniality -and has addressed more than 1,200, after-dinner gatherings. Keen, as already mentiored 'is Top Mat Coach better known as a wrestling coach than as a grid mentor, but he has assisted the Wolverine coaching. staff for 33 years. As an under- graduate, he played football' at Oklahoma A&M and was also in- tercollegiate middleweight wrestl- ing champion. His wrestling teams at Michigan have won nine con- ference championships' and have finished second 12 times. In 1948 he managed the Olympic wrestling team, and he is a past president of the Collegiate Wrestl- ing Coaches and Officials Associa- tion. Last winter, he was named to the College Wrestling Hall .of Fame. Keen holds a law degree from Michigan in addition to his under- graduate degree from Oklahoma A&M. Henry Hatch and Jim Hunt are not members of the coaching staff, but their value as equipment man and trainer, respectively, is just as great. Hatch has been with the Wol- verines for 39 years and is one of the few honorary "M" men in Michigan athletic history. Hunt, one of the top trainers in the country, has been a Michigan since 1947, and -also trained Min- nesota teams from 1942 to 1946. Iate.rr MATT PATANELLI Instructs ends ,__' Look Smart,1Be Smart! BUY NAMES YOU KNOW " -~ - -' -~ 'a- a aa -~ j and LOVE * ELINOR PORTER " McARTHUR . EXQUISITE FORM BRA f SERBIN , * LOURIE DEB * KAY McDOWELL " FRED PERLBERG " JOSELLI * HENRY LEVINE . JONATHAN LOGAN " BOBBIE BROOKS " DALTON OF AMERICA * JOHNNY HERBERT * PETTI * JOAN MILLER 'CANTERBURY 'EEYCANOEING!. I- aEVERY DAY AND EVENING - GENUINE OLD TOWN CANOES j 4 z Cf ON THE HURON RIVER AT THE FOOT OF LONG SHORE DRIVE Telephone NO 8-74111 I. i' 9 - IIN f t i. 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