The Cradle of Coaches is a nickname given to Miami University

Miami University

Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...

 in Oxford, Ohio

Oxford, Ohio

Oxford is a city in northwestern Butler County, Ohio, United States, in the southwestern portion of the state. It lies in Oxford Township, originally called the College Township. The population was 21,943 at the 2000 census. This college town was founded as a home for Miami University. Oxford...

 for producing star football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 coach

Coach (sport)

In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

es including Earl Blaik

Earl Blaik

Earl Henry "Red" Blaik was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and United States Army officer. He served as the head football coach at Dartmouth College from 1934 to 1940 and at the United States Military Academy from 1941 to 1958, compiling a career college...

, Paul Brown

Paul Brown

Paul Eugene Brown was a coach in American football and a major figure in the development of the National Football League...

, Woody Hayes

Woody Hayes

Wayne Woodrow "Woody" Hayes was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Denison University , Miami University , and Ohio State University , compiling a career college football record of 238–72–10.During his 28 seasons as the head coach of the Ohio...

, Bill Arnsparger

Bill Arnsparger

William Stephen "Bill" Arnsparger is a former American college and professional football coach.- Early years :Arnsparger was born in Paris, Kentucky in 1926. He attended Paris High School, and became connected with the school's longtime football and basketball coach, Blanton Collier...

, George Little

George Little (football coach)

George Edkin Little was an American football player and coach of football and basketball coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Cincinnati , Miami University , the University of Michigan , and the University of Wisconsin–Madison , compiling a career college...

, Weeb Ewbank, Sid Gillman

Sid Gillman

Sidney "Sid" Gillman was an American football player, coach, executive, and innovator. Gillman's insistence on stretching the football field by throwing deep downfield passes, instead of short passes to running backs or wide receivers at the sides of the line of scrimmage, was instrumental in...

, Ara Parseghian

Ara Parseghian

Ara Raoul Parseghian is a former American football player and coach of Armenian descent. He served as the head football coach at Miami University , Northwestern University , and the University of Notre Dame , compiling a career college football record of 170–58–6...

, Bo Schembechler

Bo Schembechler

Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler, Jr. was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the University of Michigan from 1969 to 1989, compiling a career record of 234–65–8...

, John Pont

John Pont

John Pont was an American football player and coach. He served as head coach at Miami University, Yale University, Northwestern University and Indiana University. He was the only Indiana University coach to take a team to the Rose Bowl. Later in his career, Pont was recruited to start a football...

, Carmen Cozza

Carmen Cozza

Carmen Louis "Carm" Cozza is a former American football and baseball player and coach of football. He served as the head football coach at Yale University from 1965 to 1996, winning ten Ivy League championships and compiling a record of 179–119–5. Cozza was named UPI New England...

, Bill Mallory

Bill Mallory

William G. "Bill" Mallory is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Miami University , the University of Colorado at Boulder , Northern Illinois University , and Indiana University , compiling a career college football record of...

, Jim Tressel

Jim Tressel

James Patrick Tressel is a gameday consultant for the Indianapolis Colts, and former collegiate football head coach at both The Ohio State University from 2001 to 2011 and at Youngstown State University from 1986 to 2000. Tressel is most notable for his time at Ohio State. He was hired by the...

, Joe Novak

Joe Novak

-External links:*...

, Ron Zook

Ron Zook

Ron Zook is a former American football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at the University of Florida from 2002 to 2004 and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2005 to 2011. Zook is a native of Ohio and an alumnus of Miami University, where he...

, Dick Crum

Dick Crum (football coach)

Dick Crum is a former American football player and coach. He served as head coach at Miami University , the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , and Kent State University , compiling a career college football record of 113–77–4...

, Paul Dietzel

Paul Dietzel

Paul Dietzel is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at Louisiana State University , the United States Military Academy , and the University of South Carolina , compiling a career record of 109–95–5...

, William Narduzzi, Randy Walker

Randy Walker (football coach)

Randy J. Walker was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1990 to 1998 and at Northwestern University from 1999 to 2005, compiling a career college football record of 96–81–5...

, John Harbaugh, Gary Moeller

Gary Moeller

Gary O. Moeller is an American football coach best known for being head coach at the University of Michigan from 1990 to 1994. During his five seasons at Michigan, he won 44 games, lost 13 and tied 3 for a winning percentage of .758...

, Larry Smith, Dick Tomey

Dick Tomey

-External links:* *...

, Sean Payton

Sean Payton

Patrick Sean Payton is the current head coach of the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. Payton was a quarterback at Naperville Central High School and Eastern Illinois University and played professionally in 1987 and 1988...

 and Terry Hoeppner

Terry Hoeppner

Terry Hoeppner was an American college football coach who served as head coach of the Miami RedHawks from 1999 to 2004 and the Indiana Hoosiers from 2005 to 2006...

.

Miami fields a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision program in the Mid-American Conference

Mid-American Conference

The Mid-American Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members...

 (MAC). Miami started playing football in 1888 but did not have a paid coach until C. K. Fauver

C. K. Fauver

Clayton King Fauver was an American football coach during the late 19th century. In 1895, he became the first paid coach at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. In 1896, Fauver served as the head coach at Oberlin College, compiling a record of 5–3–1...

 in 1895.

Miami has also produced notable basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 coaches Darrell Hedric

Darrell Hedric

Darrell Hedric is an American basketball head coach and scout, most noted as the coach of the Miami University basketball team from 1970 to 1984.-Early history:...

, Randy Ayers

Randy Ayers

Randall Duane Ayers is a retired American college basketball player and former assistant coach of the Washington Wizards. His youngest brother, Tim Ayers, served as Mayor and City Commissioner of Springfield, Ohio from 1984–1990.Ayers was born in Springfield, Ohio, the fourth child of Frank Ayers...

, Herb Sendek

Herb Sendek

Herbert J. Sendek is an American college basketball coach and the current men's basketball coach at Arizona State University.-Background:Sendek was formally introduced as the ASU head coach on April 3, 2006....

, Thad Matta

Thad Matta

Thad Matta is an American college basketball coach. He is the current head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team. He was hired as the 13th head coach in Ohio State history on July 7, 2004 after the school had fired previous coach Jim O'Brien...

 and Sean Miller

Sean Miller

Sean Miller is an American college basketball coach, and currently the head men's basketball coach at the University of Arizona.-Early years:...

. Hedric, currently a scout for the Toronto Raptors, is an Ohio and Cincinnati Basketball Hall of Famer and holds the record for Miami victories. Ayers was a four-year starter for Miami, leading the team to back-to-back NCAA appearances in 1977 and 1978, and later served as a head coach for Ohio State and assistant coach in the National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

. Sendek began his head coaching career at Miami and led the RedHawks to the postseason in each of his three seasons. Matta, currently the head coach at Ohio State, was an assistant under Sendek for one memorable year that included a regular season MAC championship and NCAA tournament appearance, and also for one year under current head coach Charlie Coles

Charlie Coles

Charlie Coles is an American college basketball coach and the current head men's basketball coach at Miami University....

.

Baseball Hall of Fame manager Walter Alston

Walter Alston

Walter Emmons Alston , nicknamed "Smokey," was an American baseball player and manager. He was born in Venice, Ohio but grew up in Darrtown. He is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he lettered three years in both basketball and baseball and is a member of the University's Hall...

 is also a graduate of Miami. Additionally, current University of Denver head hockey coach George Gwozdecky

George Gwozdecky

George Gwozdecky is an ice hockey coach who is currently the head coach for the University of Denver Pioneers hockey team. The Pioneers have won 2 national championships under his guidance...

 served as head coach at Miami prior to leaving for Denver.

Official members of "The Cradle"

Induction Year	Name	Sport - Current Coaching Position	Miami University Class of
1992	Weeb Ewbank *	Football	1928
1992	Bob Kurz †	Football	1958
1992	Bill Narduzzi	Football	1959
1992	John Pont John Pont John Pont was an American football player and coach. He served as head coach at Miami University, Yale University, Northwestern University and Indiana University. He was the only Indiana University coach to take a team to the Rose Bowl. Later in his career, Pont was recruited to start a football...	Football	1952
1993	Paul Brown Paul Brown Paul Eugene Brown was a coach in American football and a major figure in the development of the National Football League...	Football	1930
1993	Mel Knowlton	Football	1937
1993	Ara Parseghian Ara Parseghian Ara Raoul Parseghian is a former American football player and coach of Armenian descent. He served as the head football coach at Miami University , Northwestern University , and the University of Notre Dame , compiling a career college football record of 170–58–6...	Football	1949
1994	Bill Arnsparger Bill Arnsparger William Stephen "Bill" Arnsparger is a former American college and professional football coach.- Early years :Arnsparger was born in Paris, Kentucky in 1926. He attended Paris High School, and became connected with the school's longtime football and basketball coach, Blanton Collier...	Football	1950
1994	Paul Dietzel Paul Dietzel Paul Dietzel is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at Louisiana State University , the United States Military Academy , and the University of South Carolina , compiling a career record of 109–95–5...	Football	1948
1994	Jack Llewellyn
1995	Jack Faulkner Jack Faulkner Jack Faulkner was an American football coach and administrator who most prominently served as head coach of the American Football League's Denver Broncos from 1962 to 1964. He also has been an integral part of the St. Louis Rams organization, dating back to the team's days in Los Angeles.-Early...	Football
1995	Joe Codiano	Football
1995	Bill Mallory Bill Mallory William G. "Bill" Mallory is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Miami University , the University of Colorado at Boulder , Northern Illinois University , and Indiana University , compiling a career college football record of...	Football	1957
1996	John Brickels	Football
1996	Hal Paul
1996	Dick Shrider	Basketball
1997	Jerry Hanlon Jerry Hanlon Jerry Hanlon is a former American football player, coach, and radio broadcaster. He was a halfback on the 1953–1955 Miami University teams that won two Mid-American Conference championships under Ara Parseghian...	Football
1997	John McVay John McVay John McVay is a former American football coach who rose through the coaching ranks from high school, through the college level, and to the NFL...	Football
1997	Frank Shands
1998	Carmen Cozza Carmen Cozza Carmen Louis "Carm" Cozza is a former American football and baseball player and coach of football. He served as the head football coach at Yale University from 1965 to 1996, winning ten Ivy League championships and compiling a record of 179–119–5. Cozza was named UPI New England...		1952
1998	Marvin Morehead
1998	Ernie Plank	Football	1950
2001	Dick Crum Dick Crum (football coach) Dick Crum is a former American football player and coach. He served as head coach at Miami University , the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , and Kent State University , compiling a career college football record of 113–77–4...	Football
2001	Darrell Hedric Darrell Hedric Darrell Hedric is an American basketball head coach and scout, most noted as the coach of the Miami University basketball team from 1970 to 1984.-Early history:...	Basketball	1955
2001	Lou Kaczmarek	Football	1950
2001	Rich Voiers	Basketball	1957
2001	Walter "Smokey" Alston Walter Alston Walter Emmons Alston , nicknamed "Smokey," was an American baseball player and manager. He was born in Venice, Ohio but grew up in Darrtown. He is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he lettered three years in both basketball and baseball and is a member of the University's Hall...	Baseball	1935
2001	Earl "Red" Blaik Earl Blaik Earl Henry "Red" Blaik was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and United States Army officer. He served as the head football coach at Dartmouth College from 1934 to 1940 and at the United States Military Academy from 1941 to 1958, compiling a career college...	Football	1918
2001	Leann Davidge	Tennis
2001	Woody Hayes Woody Hayes Wayne Woodrow "Woody" Hayes was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Denison University , Miami University , and Ohio State University , compiling a career college football record of 238–72–10.During his 28 seasons as the head coach of the Ohio...	Football
2001	Raymond Ray
2001	George Rider George Rider -External links:* * * at College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com...	Cross Country ‡
2001	William (Bill) Rohr	Basketball
2002	Peggy Bradley-Doppes	Volleyball - UNC Wilmington University of North Carolina at Wilmington The University of North Carolina at Wilmington, sometimes referred to as UNC Wilmington, is a public, co-educational university located in Wilmington, North Carolina...  Director of Athletics
2002	Denny Marcin	Football - NY Jets New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	1964
2002	Nick Mourouzis	Football - DePauw DePauw University DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, USA, is a private, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the Great Lakes Colleges Association...	1959
2002	Jim Rose	Basketball	1951
2002	Marvin McCollum	Basketball	1948
2002	Ron Zook Ron Zook Ron Zook is a former American football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at the University of Florida from 2002 to 2004 and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2005 to 2011. Zook is a native of Ohio and an alumnus of Miami University, where he...	Football - Illinois Illinois Fighting Illini The Fighting Illini are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The University offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports....	1976
2006	George Gwozdecky George Gwozdecky George Gwozdecky is an ice hockey coach who is currently the head coach for the University of Denver Pioneers hockey team. The Pioneers have won 2 national championships under his guidance...	Hockey - Denver University of Denver The University of Denver is currently ranked 82nd among all public and private "National Universities" by U.S. News & World Report in the 2012 rankings....

* Weeb Ewbank played football, basketball and baseball at Miami, and coached the basketball team before becoming an established football coach.

† Bob Kurz wrote "Miami of Ohio - the Cradle of Coaches" book

‡ George Rider coached 5 sports at Miami: football, basketball, baseball, track, and most notably cross country

Evolution

Recently the nickname has been applied to the entire state. Native-born Ohio or Ohio-linked coaches dominate the top football programs in the Southeastern Conference

Southeastern Conference

The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

, including national championship coaches Les Miles

Les Miles

Leslie Edwin "Les" Miles, nicknamed "The Mad Hatter", is an American college football coach and the current head coach of the Louisiana State University football team. Prior to holding that position, he was head coach at Oklahoma State...

 at Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...

, Urban Meyer

Urban Meyer

Urban Frank Meyer, III is an American football coach and former player. He is head football coach at Ohio State University, having been hired for the position in November 2011...

 at the University of Florida

University of Florida

The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...

, and Kent State University

Kent State University

Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...

 alum Nick Saban

Nick Saban

Nicholas Lou "Nick" Saban is the head coach of the University of Alabama's Crimson Tide football team. Saban has previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins and three other NCAA universities: LSU, Michigan State and Toledo...

 at the University of Alabama

University of Alabama

The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....

. National championship coach Bob Stoops

Bob Stoops

Robert Anthony "Bob" Stoops is the head coach of the University of Oklahoma football team. During the 2000 season, Stoops led the Sooners to an Orange Bowl victory and a national championship....

 from the University of Oklahoma

University of Oklahoma

The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...

 is a native, and Pete Carroll

Pete Carroll

Peter Clay Carroll is the head coach and executive Vice-President of the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League. He is a former head coach of the New York Jets, New England Patriots and the University of Southern California Trojans football team.-Early life:Carroll attended Redwood High...

 from the University of Southern California

University of Southern California

The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...

 was an Ohio State assistant. Bo Pelini

Bo Pelini

Mark "Bo" Pelini is the head football coach at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He had previously been defensive coordinator for the LSU Tigers, Oklahoma Sooners, and the Nebraska Cornhuskers...

 of the University of Nebraska and Gary Pinkel

Gary Pinkel

Gary Robin Pinkel is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at the University of Missouri, a position he has held since the 2001 season. From 1991 to 2000, Pinkel coached at the University of Toledo, where his team won a Mid-American Conference...

 of the University of Missouri

University of Missouri

The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...

are also native-Ohioans, and in 2008 the state had produced natives totalling 15% of the college head football coach ranks while only having 4% of the population, while 15 of the last 20 teams to play for the college football national championship had head coaches with Ohio connections.

External links

• The Cradle of Coaches