Ex-Buckeyes coach Bruce dead
COLUMBUS, Ohio — When Earle Bruce stepped into his dream job as Ohio State football coach, it came under most challenging circumstances: replacing the program’s revered longtime leader, who had fallen from grace.
Bruce embraced the task of following Woody Hayes and went on to have his own Hall of Fame career. He never did quite match Hayes’ record or status at Ohio State, but Bruce earned a special place of his own in Buckeyes history as adored patriarch and sage, as well as mentor to the program’s current coaching star.
Bruce died in Columbus early Friday morning, according to a statement released by his daughters through Ohio State. Bruce, who was 87, had Alzheimer’s disease.
He had a record of 81-26-1 as Ohio State’s coach from 1979 to ’87 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003.
Bruce was hired after the revered Hayes was fired for punching a Clemson player in the 1978 Gator Bowl. Even after being fired by Ohio State and moving on to other jobs, Bruce never lost his passion for the Buckeyes.
“He was just so genuine,” said former Ohio State linebacker Chris Spielman, a two-time All-American who played for Bruce from 1984 to ’87. “I think the one thing that stood out to me, and I heard other people describe him this way — there was nothing phony about him. What you saw was what it was. I loved him smiling when he told football stories.”
Ohio State coach Urban Meyer began his coaching career as a graduate assistant under Bruce in 1986, and Meyer later worked for him at Colorado State.
“I’ve made it clear many times that, other than my father, Coach Bruce was the most influential man in my life,” Meyer said in a release. “Every significant decision I’ve made growing up in this profession was with him involved in it. His wife (Jean) and he were the role models for Shelley and me. They did everything with class. He was not afraid to show how much he loved his family and cared for his family.”
Born in Pittsburgh and raised in Cumberland, Md., Bruce had come to Ohio State in the fall of 1949 to play football. A knee injury in effect ended his playing days and led him to think about coaching.
Staying in state, he was a high school assistant in Mansfield and became a head coach in 1956 at Salem, where his teams went 28-9. He moved on to Sandusky High School in 1960, and in four years he had a record of 34-3-3. He then took over at mighty Massillon, one of the most renowned prep jobs in the country, and went 20-0 in two seasons.
Hayes beckoned, and Bruce joined him as an assistant at Ohio State in 1966. Bruce was in charge of a bruising offensive line that paved the way for the Buckeyes to win three Big Ten titles, two Rose Bowls, go 43-14 and win the 1968 national championship.