Hall of Fame
Position: Halfback
Years: 1946-1947
Place of Birth: Detroit, MI
Date of Birth: Jan 30, 1925
Place of Death: Iowa City, IA
Date of Death: Dec. 7, 2019
Jersey Number: 18
Height: 5-10
Weight: 175
Other College: Purdue (1943-1944)
High School: Bloomington, IL (Bloomington HS)
In military and civilian life, Chalmers "Bump" Elliott was a star. The Bloomington, Illinois, native joined the Marines in 1943, and he was assigned to officer training at Purdue arriving in time to play three games with a Big Ten championship team. In 1944, still at Purdue, he was a starting halfback.
He served in China with the Marines, came home, and enrolled at Michigan. His big year was 1947. He scored eight touchdowns, leading the Big Ten; ripped off a 74- yard punt return against Illinois; made the All-America team picked by the American Football Coaches Association; and was voted Most Valuable Player in the Big Ten. This was the year Michigan went 10-0, scored 394 points, and won the Rose Bowl 49-0. Michigan had a lineup of veterans, and Bump Elliott was one of two regulars who played both offense and defense.
In 1959, at age 34, he became Michigan's football coach. He served 10 years amassing a 51-42-2 record, and his 1964 team won the Big Ten and the Rose Bowl against Oregon State. After leaving the Michigan coaching job, Elliott went on to a successful career as athletics director at Iowa.
He was part of a great family tradition. His father was Dr. J. Norman Elliott, a physician and, in the 1930's, the head football coach at Illinois Wesleyan. Bump lettered in three sports in college, also playing baseball and basketball. So did his brother, Pete, and they were teammates at Michigan. Pete was also an All-American, and he followed Bump into the College Football Hall Fame with his own induction in 1994. And they opposed each other, when Bump was coach at Michigan, Pete at Illinois.
Elliott passed away Dec. 7, 2019. Born Jan. 30, 1925, he was 94.
