21 Facts About Earle Bruce

Earle Bruce was an American football player and coach.

At Ohio State, Bruce succeeded the legendary Woody Hayes and won four Big Ten Conference titles.

Earle Bruce was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2002.

Earle Bruce returned to coaching in 2001 to helm the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League for a season and later guided the Columbus Destroyers.

Earle Bruce played for the Campers of Allegany High School in Cumberland, Maryland.

Earle Bruce was recruited as a fullback at the Ohio State University by head coach Wes Fesler.

Earle Bruce played on the OSU freshman team in 1950, but before he could join the varsity team in 1951 he suffered a torn meniscus, ending his football playing career.

Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes asked Earle Bruce to join the coaching staff, which he did until his graduation in 1953.

Earle Bruce was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity while attending Ohio State.

In 1956, Earle Bruce accepted his first head coaching position, at Salem High School in Salem, Ohio.

From 1960 until 1963, Earle Bruce coached the Blue Streaks at Sandusky High School, Sandusky, Ohio.

Earle Bruce moved into the head coaching position at Iowa State University following his success at Tampa.

Earle Bruce is the only coach in modern times to leave Iowa State with a winning record.

Earle Bruce was Ohio State's head coach from 1979 to 1987.

Earle Bruce filed a lawsuit against Ohio State after being fired.

Earle Bruce was the leading candidate to replace Bob Valesente as head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks after the 1987 season, but due to a contract dispute, KU did not hire him.

Earle Bruce took over the head coaching position at the University of Northern Iowa for one year, and then finished his intercollegiate coaching career at Colorado State University.

Earle Bruce was fired after the 1992 season for, among other things, verbally and physically abusing his players and discouraging players from taking classes that conflicted with football practice.

In 2004, Earle Bruce returned to Ohio to become the head coach for the Columbus Destroyers, who were moving from Buffalo to Columbus that year.

Thereafter, Earle Bruce worked as an Ohio State football analyst for WTVN 610AM in Columbus as well an analyst for ONN on their OSU programming.

On October 1,2016, Earle Bruce was honored during the Rutgers-Ohio State halftime and dotted the "i" during Script Ohio.