College Football Hall of Fame Coach Frank “Muddy” Waters died Wednesday, September 20, at the age of 83 from heart failure.
Known as an exemplary coach and role model, he will be missed and remembered for his tenure as one most respected coaches to have ever graced the sidelines throughout the state of Michigan with stints at Hillsdale College, Saginaw Valley State, and Michigan State.
Muddy's tireless efforts resulted in some of the nation’s most powerful and respected college programs. At Hillsdale his teams were nationally ranked twelve times, and from 1953-57, Hillsdale won 34 games in a row, a Division II record. His teams earned trips to the playoffs twice and played in the 1957 Holiday Bowl.
The NAIA selected Waters as its Coach of the Year in 1957. The same year, Hillsdale earned recognition by the Washington D.C. Touchdown Club as the nation's most outstanding small college team.
In 1973 Hillsdale College named its arena Frank Waters Stadium in his honor. In 1974, Waters left Hillsdale to begin building a football program at Saginaw Valley State College, which earned varsity team status in 1975 and by 1979, claimed the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship. That year he was selected Michigan Coach of the Year, marking the eighth time in his illustrious career that he won the award.
He concluded his coaching career with a three-year stint at Michigan State and was later inducted into the NAIA and Hillsdale College athletic halls of fame. The National Football Foundation selected him for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame on August 11, 2000.
Outside of coaching, Waters remained heavily involved in the game of football. He held the position of chairman of the NAIA Football Advisory Committee four times and led the NAIA Football Coaches Association as its president. Survived by his three sons Frank Jr., known as “Murky,” John, and Bill, funeral arrangements will be announced shortly, and Hillsdale College announced they will hold a memorial service in the near future.
