1. Chalmers William "Bump" Elliott was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator.
46 Facts About Bump Elliott
1. 2.
Bump Elliott played halfback at Purdue University and the University of Michigan.
3.
Bump Elliott received varsity letters in football, baseball, and basketball at Purdue, before being called into active duty in late 1944, serving with the Marines in China.
4.
Bump Elliott was appointed as Michigan's head football coach in 1959 and held that position until 1968, leading the team to a Big Ten Conference championship and Rose Bowl victory in the 1964 season.
5.
In 1989, Bump Elliott was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
6.
Chalmers William Bump Elliott was born in Detroit, but grew up in Bloomington, Illinois.
7.
Bump Elliott's father, J Norman Elliott, was an ears, nose and throat doctor who coached football at Illinois Wesleyan University from 1930 to 1934.
8.
Elliott and his younger brother, Pete Elliott, both played football together for Bloomington High School, where Bump was an All-State halfback in 1942, and Pete made it as a fullback in 1943.
9.
Bump Elliott enlisted in the United States Marine Corps while still a senior in high school and was called to active duty in 1943.
10.
Bump Elliott was assigned to the V-12 officer training program at Purdue University.
11.
Bump Elliott played in the first six games of the 1944 football season for Purdue before being transferred by the Marine Corps.
12.
Bump Elliott was the only defensive player in 1944 to pull down Illinois' Buddy Young from behind.
13.
Bump Elliott received orders to report for active duty in October 1944, and he played his last game in a Purdue uniform against the Michigan Wolverines on October 28,1944.
14.
Bump Elliott was later sent to China and emerged from the war as a Marine lieutenant.
15.
Bump Elliott scored the first touchdown late in the first quarter on a 37-yard pass from Bob Chappuis in the corner of the end zone.
16.
From that point, Bump Elliott ran it back 60 yards down the sideline for his second touchdown.
17.
Bump Elliott led the Big Nine Conference in scoring, made the All-American team picked by the American Football Coaches Association, and was voted Most Valuable Player in the Big Nine, winning the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy.
18.
Bump Elliott was one of two Michigan players in 1947, along with fullback Jack Weisenburger, who played both offense and defense.
19.
Indeed, Bump Elliott was actually a four-way threat as he contributed in rushing, receiving, punt returns, and defense.
20.
Bump Elliott averaged 6.4 yards per carry as a rusher, 19.9 yards per reception, and 17.2 yards per punt return.
21.
Bump Elliott scored touchdowns in each of the team's early season wins over Michigan State, Stanford, and Pitt.
22.
Bump Elliott played a key role on defense, intercepting a pass at the Michigan nine-yard line to halt an Illinois drive.
23.
Bump Elliott finished the season scoring two touchdowns each in games against Indiana and Ohio State.
24.
Bump Elliott weighed only 160 pounds during his All-American season in 1947.
25.
Bump Elliott applied for an extra year of eligibility in 1948.
26.
The Bump Elliott brothers served as assistant coaches together at Oregon State University in 1949 and 1950, before going their separate ways.
27.
The Elliotts' coached against each other in the early 1960s while Bump was the head football coach at Michigan and Pete held the same position at the University of Illinois.
28.
Bump Elliott considered going into medicine as his father had done, but he chose instead to go into coaching.
29.
Bump Elliott started his coaching career at Michigan in the fall of 1948 as assistant backfield coach.
30.
In 1952, Bump Elliott was hired as an assistant at the University of Iowa under its head coach, Forest Evashevski, another former All-American at the Michigan.
31.
Bump Elliott returned to Michigan in 1957 as a backfield coach under Bennie Oosterbaan.
32.
In 1959, Bump Elliott was elevated to head football coach at Michigan.
33.
However, Canham later denied that Bump Elliott was "eased out" of his job.
34.
My first year as director Bump Elliott had an 8 and 2 record.
35.
Bump Elliott was a man of great class and he showed it to me again and again in that first year, never getting in the way, always trying to be helpful, always trying to encourage me.
36.
From 1969 to 1970, Bump Elliott was the associate director of athletics at Michigan.
37.
Bump Elliott became the men's athletic director at the University of Iowa in 1970, succeeding Forest Evashevski.
38.
Bump Elliott came to Iowa in the midst of a feud between Evashevski and football coach Ray Nagel.
39.
Evashevski resigned in May 1970, and Bump Elliott was hired to replace him.
40.
Bump Elliott hired a number of notable coaches, including Lute Olson, Dan Gable, Hayden Fry, and Dr Tom Davis.
41.
I'll never forget what Bump Elliott said to me: 'Don't ask for the moon.
42.
Bump Elliott was the one who hired Hayden Fry as Iowa's football coach in 1979.
43.
Fry later said that Bump Elliott was one of the principal reasons he chose to coach at Iowa.
44.
Bump Elliott had a reputation as being a fair, honest and well-liked administrator.
45.
Son Bob Bump Elliott was Iowa's defensive coordinator under Hayden Fry in the 1990s.
46.
Bump Elliott lived in his later years at the Oaknoll Retirement Community in Iowa City.