Hall of Fame
Position: Coach
Years: Tampa (1972), Iowa State (1973-78), Ohio State (1979-87), Northern Iowa (1988), Colorado State (1989-92)
Place of Birth: Pittsburgh, PA
Date of Birth: Mar 08, 1931
Place of Death: Columbus, OH
Date of Death: Apr 20, 2018
Coach Earle Bruce tallied a career 154-90-2 record while leading programs at Tampa, Iowa State, Ohio State, Northern Iowa and Colorado State.
A native of Cumberland, Md., Bruce began his coaching career while he was still a student at Ohio State. As a sophomore running back for the Buckeyes in 1951 under College Football Hall of Fame coach Woody Hayes, Bruce suffered a torn meniscus in preseason drills and never played football again. Hayes, however, asked Bruce to join his coaching staff, where he remained until his graduation in 1953.
Bruce then coached high school football in Ohio for 13 seasons, including 10 as a head coach. One of the most successful high school coaches in Ohio history, Bruce was 82-12-3 as a head coach at Salem (28-9 from 1956-59), Sandusky (34-3-3 from 1960-63) and Massillon high schools. He guided Massillon to consecutive 10-0, undefeated seasons in 1964 and 1965 before rejoining Hayes' staff at Ohio State in 1966. Bruce remained with the Buckeyes for six seasons, coaching the defensive backs his first year and the offensive line the next five seasons.
Ohio State would win a consensus national championship with Bruce on staff in 1968 and a second national title, by the National Football Foundation, following the 1970 season.
Bruce landed his first collegiate head coaching job at the University of Tampa in 1972, where he fashioned a 10-2 record, including a win in the Tangerine Bowl.
Bruce then led Iowa State during one of their most prosperous periods in school history from 1973-78. He tallied a career 36-32 mark as the Cyclone mentor, but in his last three seasons (1976-78), the Cyclones went 24-11 and earned bowl bids in 1977 (Peach Bowl) and 1978 (Hall of Fame Bowl).
His 1976 Cyclone squad was perhaps his best team and is still considered one of the finest in school history despite being snubbed by the bowl scouts. Iowa State ended the regular season with an 8-3 record and a No. 19 ranking in the final Associated Press poll. ISU ranked second nationally in total offense by averaging 439.6 yards per game in 1976, a school record which still stands today. A 37-28 win over No. 9 Nebraska highlighted the year and was the first-ever victory over a ranked team in Jack Trice Stadium.
Bruce led the Cyclones to back-to-back 8-3 regular-season marks and bowl appearances in his final two seasons. His 1977 team appeared in the national rankings after the Cyclones defeated No. 9 Nebraska (24-21) for the second-straight season, this time in Lincoln, Neb. He earned Big Eight Conference Coach-of-the-Year honors in both 1976 and 1977.
Bruce succeeded Hayes as head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes, serving as the head coach from 1979-87 and leading the team to four Big Ten Conference championships and an 81-26-1 overall record. He ranks 10th among Big Ten Conference coaches in number of league championships won.
Bruce made an immediate mark on Ohio State football, leading the Buckeyes to the Big Ten championship and earning the 1979 Big Ten Coach of the Year award after guiding the Buckeyes to an 11-0 regular season mark and a berth in the 1980 Rose Bowl. He was the national coach of the year as chosen by his peers at the American Football Coaches Association. A one-point loss to USC kept him from an undefeated, national championship season in his first year as Buckeye coach.
Bruce led Ohio State to eight bowl games in his nine seasons as coach, including two Rose Bowls (1980 and 1985), and he had a 5-3 bowl game record with the Buckeyes. His bowl game wins included a 28-12 victory over Texas A&M in the 1987 Cotton Bowl, a game that marked the first time a Big Ten team had played in the Cotton Bowl. He was 7-5 all-time in bowl games and led all four Division I programs he coached -- Tampa, Iowa State, Ohio State and Colorado State -- to a bowl.
Bruce's teams were 5-4 against archrival Michigan, including a 23-20 victory in Ann Arbor on Nov. 21, 1987, in the last game he coached as a Buckeye. During his time in Columbus, he coached College Football Hall of Famer Chris Spielman and five NFF National Scholar-Athletes: David Crecelius, John Frank, Mike Lanese, James Laughlin and Joseph Smith.
Following his tenure at Ohio State, Bruce coached at the University of Northern Iowa in 1988 before taking over the Colorado State program from 1989-92. He led the Rams to their best season in school history at the time, a 9-4 record in 1990 that included a win over Oregon in the Freedom Bowl – the school's first postseason appearance in 42 years. He coached Hall of Famer and NFF National Scholar-Athlete Greg Myers while with the Rams.
Bruce was a radio analyst at Columbus radio station WTVN for 23 years, right up until the 2017 season, when complications of a stroke and the progression of Alzheimer's settled in and kept the proud Buckeye and gentleman mostly at home, save for a family visit or a trek to campus to take in a football practice.
Bruce, and his late wife of 56 years, Jean, worked diligently raising funds for Alzheimer's research. Their work has resulted in more than $1 million being raised for The Earle and Jean Bruce Alzheimer's Research Fund in Neurology at Ohio State, according to the Wexner Medical Center website.
The couple's philanthropic efforts had centered around two primary events: the Beat Michigan Tailgate, which was held for the last time on the Friday before the 2017 Ohio State/Michigan game, and the Athletes Against Alzheimer's Radiothon.
Bruce's coaching legacy features an impressive list of assistant coaches from his staffs who went on to become head coaches. The list includes College Football Hall of Fame coach Jim Tressel, as well as Urban Meyer, Nick Saban, Mark Dantonio and Pete Carroll.
In 2000, he was inducted into the Iowa State Athletics Hall of Fame and he was inducted into Ohio State University's Sports Hall of Fame in August of 2004.
He passed away April 20, 2018. He was 87.
