v BE 5 1963 THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Wells Moved To Bolster Right Halfback Slot
The Thin Man
by Dave Good
The Game' s the Thing
Nothing ever happens in the Big Ten business meetings; they've
been a standing joke for years among veteran Midwest sports writers,
who regard the press conferences as a dull but necessary sidelight to
the conference track meets in March and May.
In the three years I've helped cover the meetings, the only im-
portant policy decisions which the athletic directors and faculty rep-
resentatives have endorsed have been 1) replacing the "need prin-
ciple" of financial aid to athletes with the requirement of predicted
scholastic success on the basis of high school rank and aptitude tests,
and 2) the inter-conference letter of intent, regarding mutual cour-
tesies in recruiting high school athletes.
Anyway, in spite of their recent record of inactivity, the con-
ference planners have given definite indications that they may try
to pioneer a nationwide recruiting policy this year. It began with
the inter-conference letter of intent, approved at the meeting last
spring, and operative among the Big Ten, Big Eight, Atlantic
Coast, Missouri Valley, Southeastern and Southwest Conferences,
as well as four independents-Penn State, Syracuse, Pittsburgh
and West Virginia.
The idea is simply to prevent one league from "stealing" an ath-
lete already signed with a school in another league, just as has been
the policy with many leagues, including the Big Ten. ,
An Air of Respectability...
The repercussions from the letter of intent could be widespread
in helping make recruiting, especially of high school football and
basketball players, more respectable. This is the opinion of Michigan's
long-time athletic director, H. O. (Fritz) Crisler, one of the most in-
fluential college leaders in the nation.
He foresees an expansion of the letter of intent among many of
the other conferences in the country-if it proves workable the way it
is set up now. "Several other conferences have shown sympathy to the
move even though they haven't joined," Crisler points out.
0 And there is an even more important plan brewing in the
minds of Crisler and other Big Ten leaders-one which Crisler
thinks could eventually lead toward inter-conference cooperation
in reducing financial aid to athletes all over the country. This
would be the most significant step taken in many years toward
eliminating the air of professionalism in college athletics.
It works this way: Crisler for some time has been backing a move
to cut down on financial aid to Big Ten athletes, and although most
of the other Big Ten leaders don't hold very closely with Crisler's purist
notions, they do tend to go along with him for their own reasons.
"I stand pretty much alone on this, but I'd just as soon see col-
lege athletics conducted on the proposition that competitors be eligible
only for general aid given to other students--on the basis of scholar-
ship and need," Crisler explains. "My idea is to have prospective ath-
letes-without recruiting pressure-choose the school where they would
like to get a degree, and then have these people play each other.
"But this idea is outmoded today and doesn't have a chance of
acceptance. Recruiting has become part of our way of life. It's become
consistent with our whole attitude."
Right Where it Hurts...
The reason why other Big Ten leaders may be willing to enact a
policy which fits .in with what Crisler feels is a practical compromise
with his position is that rising costs are making member schools start
to feel the pinch.
The immediate result is that the October meeting of the Big Ten
athletic directors and faculty representatives may see action taken to
reduce each school's number of full athletic tenders reduced from 80
to 55, while the number of partial scholarships would be increased.
An educated guess is that only football and basketball may be
left with full tenders, leaving all the other sports covering only
tuition, or tuition and books. Crisler, incidentally, thinks that this
will not place the Big Ten at a recruiting disadvantage in these
so-called minor sports, since most other athletic conferences don't
compete very energetically in them.
The upshoot of it all is that someday, maybe not in the foresee-
able future, this plan of cutbacks in athletic financial aid may spread
across the country. Crisler says that a committee under the National
Collegiate Athletic Association is exploring this very thing.
But like Crisler, I'm a bit of an idealist. I'd like to see it happen
because that's the way the game should be played, not just because
these educational farm systems of professional sports are running out
of money.
By GARY WINER
Coach Bump Elliott ran sopho-
more Dick Wells at the right half-
back slot yesterday afternoon in a
move designated to find a replace-
ment for injured Rick Sygar.
Wells, a product of Grand Rap-
ids' Ottawa Hills High School, was
running from'the left side of the
backfield on the freshman team
last year, but was switched to right
halfback during the spring drills.
He was all-city in 1961 and also
received honorable mention on the
all-state squad.
Elliott had tentatively leaned
toward sophomore Bob Quist for
the vacated halfback position, but
Quist played with the gold team
during practice.
Quist is also a native of Grand
Rapids where he attended Cath-
alic Central. He was picked for the
all-state squad twice and was se-
lected as a high school All-Ameri-
can. On the freshman team last
year he played both the halfback
and fullback positions.
Nothing Definite
During most of the afternoon,
the first team's backfield consist-
ed of Bob Timberlake, quarter-
back; Wells and sophomore Jack
Clancy, halfbacks; and Mel Anth-
ony, fullback.
Backfield coach Hank Fonde
commented, "Nothing is definite
yet. Wells most likely will be run-
ning at right halfback again today.
The other halfback position is
clouded by the fact that John
Rowser and Dick Rindfuss have
slight injuries."
Team Captain Joe O'Donnell,
Rowser, and Rindfuss were suited
up yesterday but none took part
in contact drills. Team physician
Dr. A. W. Coxonstated that X-
rays of O'Donnell and Rowser
proved negative. Both had com-
plained of shoulder trouble.
Prichard Back
Tom Prichard, who once was
moved by Elliott from quarterback
to halfback, is back again this
year as a signal caller. Prichard
ran the second team during a light
contact workout.
If anyone plans to watch a
practice session, one should be
sure to watch the play by sopho-
more Bill Yearby. He's been run-
ning from the left tackle spot on
the first team for the past week.
Yearby is wearing a huge white
"horse collar" around his neck.
-Daily-Mark Diem
CLANCY DRIVES-Ball-carrier Jack Clancy is barely visible in
this scene of yesterday's football drills at Ferry Field. Clancy,
switched from quarterback to halfback this past week, is a prom-
ising sophomore from Detroit Redford St. Mary's and is one of
the Wolverine's standout defensive players.
FOOTBALL GEOGRAPHY:
Recruting; Moving Man's Job
By BILL BULLARD
Although this season's Big Ten
football rosters include players
from 31 states plus the District of
Columbia and the Canal Zone,
each school depends on recruiting
players from a relatively few areas.
Ohio State is at one extreme
with 57 of its 65 squad members
being from the Buckeye state. In-
diana is at the other end of the
spectrum, having players from 13
states and no more than 15 re-
cruits from any one state on its
76-man squad.
The 1963 Wolverine varsity is
composed mainly of players from
Michigan, Ohio and Illinois. No
other state is represented on the
team by more than three players.
Michigan Good Source
Don Dufek, freshman coach for
the past four seasons and the new
defensive backfield coach, outlined
the areas in which the Michigan
staff searches for future varsity
material. First, of course, is the
state of Michigan itself where half
the present varsity comes from.
Certain parts of Ohio, like To-
ledo and Dayton, are a second
source of good players. Illinois,
especially Chicago and its suburbs,
is another fertile area, as is West-
ern Pennsylvania.
These are the areas that the
Michigan coaches concentrate on.
However, this does not mean that
Michigan doesn't get players from
other sections of the country. If
this were not so, then Michigan
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would never have had a star like
Bennie McRae, a Newport News,
Va., product, on its varsity from
1959 to 1961.
Dufek explained that the Mich-
igan coaches don't ordinarily try
to recruit players from far-away
states unless there is some indica-
tion of an interest in attending
Michigan. High school football in
Texas, Dufek said as an example,
is of a very high quality but the
distance from Michigan is so re-
mote that usually Michigan can't
hope to attract Texas players.
Scholastic Requirements
The Michigan stafftdoes inten-
sively review and attempt to re-
cruit all outstanding players who
meet the academic requirements in
the midwestern areas already
mentioned. Extensive c o n t a c t s
make it possible to rely on these
areas for future varsity talent.
All six varsity coaches spend
from 70 per cent to 90 per cent of
their time in recruiting activities
once the fall football season is
over, Dufek said. Each coach has
assumed a general responsibility
for a certain area that he is fa-
miliar with.
Coaches Bob Hollway and Hank
Fonde concentrate on Michigan.
Both have Michigan backgrounds.
Hollway was an outstanding ath-
lete for Ann Arbor High before
playing on three conference cham-
pionship teams here in 1947, 1948
and 1949. Fonde was a senior on
the 1947 Rose Bowl championship
team. He started coaching at Ann
Arbor High in 1949 and in the
next decade compiled a 69-6-4 rec-
ord.
Offensive Line Coach Jack Fouts
was born in Ohio and coached
football for 10 years at Dayton
Fairmont High School where he
posted a 38-13-3 record. Former
Wolverine Dave Raimey and end
John Henderson are recruits from
Dayton.
Two Chicago Players
Dufek, former star back for St.
George's High School in Evanston,
Ill., handles the Chicago area. Sen-
ior Tom Keating and sophomore
end Steve Smith are two excep-
tional Chicago-area players cur-
rently on the varsity.
End Coach Jocko Nelson, an as-
sistant for five years at Michigan,
is in charge of recruiting in West-
ern Pennsylvania. Starting end
Jim Conley is one of three Penn-
sylvanians now on the varsity.
Dufek gave the opinion that the
caliber of high school football all
over the Midwest was generally
the same. However, it is interest-
ing to note that Illinois has more
players on Big Ten teams than
any other state.
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