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Earle Bruce (OSU HOF, CFB HOF, R.I.P.)

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There were plenty of long faces and more than a few tears in the Ohio State family on Tuesday, and they had nothing to do with NCAA football sanctions at the school.

Former coach Earle Bruce was greeting long lines of guests at a visitation for his wife, Jean, who died just a few days before of lung disease.

She was 75, and as Earle said, was not only a great mother and friend, but ?a great coach?s wife.? The Bruces were married 56 years and had four daughters, so Jean was with him when Earle was coaching high schools and other places before succeeding Woody Hayes in 1979.

She stood by him when he was fired nine years later, not for hitting anyone or breaking rules or lying or not being able to beat Michigan (he was 5-4). He played for a national championship his first year and never again, so it was time to go.

He wasn?t good enough for the school, but he was good enough for Jean.

They went on to other coaching gigs, and now the 80-year-old Bruce does radio commentary on OSU weekends. His old players ? St. Henry?s Jim Lachey, Chris Spielman and others ? stopped by. His replacement, John Cooper, and his wife, Helen, were there.

Former OSU athletics director Jim Jones was in attendance, and later Rick Bay, the guy who quit as AD in protest of Earle?s firing.
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http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/s...e-the-osu-tears-for-real-tragedy-1303148.html
 
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College football: Earle Bruce is always eager to remind Urban Meyer about ?The Game'
Published: Monday, November 19, 2012
By John Kampf
[email protected]
@JKBuckeyes

COLUMBUS ? Urban Meyer remembers it like it was yesterday.

The 1987 season was coming to a close when Meyer ? then an assistant on the staff of Coach Earle Bruce ? walked into the Woody Hayes Athletic Center and was summoned into Bruce's office.

It was Michigan week, so meetings weren't going to be out of the ordinary. The Buckeyes (5-4-1 at the time) were going to go into great detail to play the Wolverines.

Upon entering Bruce's office, Meyer knew this wasn't any ordinary meeting.

"(Athletic Director) Rick Bay was leaned up against the wall and looked at me and said, ?Close the door. Are you the last one?' " Meyer recalled. "I said, ?Yes, sir,' and I sat down."

Across from him were members of the Bruce's coaching staff. Some had their arms on the table, others had their faces in their arms. Many, if not most, had tears in their eyes.

Then Bay delivered the news.

"He said that Coach Bruce will no longer be the coach after this game," Meyer recalled, "and (Bay had) resigned as athletic director.

"Like it was right there," Meyer continued, pointing to the office that was once Bruce's. "Right out that door."

cont...
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http://news-herald.com/articles/2012/11/19/sports/nh6240458.txt?viewmode=fullstory
 
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Great article and read.

Coach Bruce is quite simply, and in my mind without competition, the biggest fan of TOSU football on the planet.

I hope that Coach Meyer allows Coach Bruce to address the team this week, as Coach Tressel always did, cuzz I'll tell'ya what. If listening to Coach Bruce speak about this game doesn't make you want to go out and bust down a brick wall then you probably need checked for a pulse. Coach Bruce is 82 years old, I'd dare any 20 year old college kid in great shape to pass by him this week and say the words "Go Blue." Dude would be in for a beatdown of epic proportions.:oh:

Peace
 
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Former OSU coach Bruce still fiery
Buckeye coaching legend talks great game
Jan. 24, 2013
Written by
Jon Spencer
News Journal

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Former Ohio State head football coach Earle Bruce gestures as he tells stories from his coaching days during a meet greet with fans Thursday afternoon at the Oak Grove Manor. / Daniel Melograna/News Journal

He wore his I-heart-Ohio State passion on the sleeves of a Scarlet sweater that perfectly matched his gray hair.

Now 81, Earle Bruce kept his introduction brief ? ?I?m a football coach!? ? before addressing his audience of mostly patients and staff at Mansfield?s Oak Grove Manor as if he were in front of his team an hour before kickoff against Michigan.

His face scrunched, his fists clenched and his words rising from a dull roar to a fire-and-brimstone crescendo, the ol? ball coach still knows how to get ? and keep ? everyone?s attention.

?Paul Brown was the greatest football coach in Massillon history,? he said, ?until someone (Bruce remains the only unbeaten coach in that storied program) beat his records.?

Bruce winked.

The room filled with laughter.

In another moment of levity, an animated Bruce was talking about gang-tackling when he got the urge to put his words into action.

?Anybody want to stand up and let me hit them??

cont...
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http://www.thenews-messenger.com/ar.../301240036/Former-OSU-coach-Bruce-still-fiery
 
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Ohio legends: The Ohio High School Athletic Association added five new members to its Circle of Champions: Chris Spielman, Michael Rudd, Earle Bruce, Rex Kern and Paul Warfield.

In a news conference Saturday, Bruce got worked up, pounding the dais, as if he were giving a halftime speech when recalling back-to-back wins against Nebraska while he was the coach at Iowa State, his voice echoing through a backroom at Value City Arena.

"I had a great college career coaching and a greater high school career," said Bruce, who coached at Salem, Sandusky, Mansfield and Massillon.
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http://highschoolsports.cleveland.c...-boys-state-basketball-state-finals-notebook/
 
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Earle Bruce regales University Club
Ex-Buckeyes coach talks football, Meyer
Apr 18, 2013
Written by
Mark Caudill
News Journal

MANSFIELD ? Earle Bruce had the University Club fired up and ready to play Wednesday night.

Bruce, the former Ohio State football coach who had a 5-4 record against Michigan, was the guest speaker at Ed Pickens? Cafe on Main.

Bruce regaled the University Club with stories from his coaching days, which began in Mansfield when he was 22. Bruce was an assistant coach at Mansfield Senior High School for three years in the 1950s.

From Mansfield, Bruce got his first head coaching job at Salem High School. He said he questioned the toughness of his players and challenged them during the off-season by having his athletic director buy a 5-foot rubber ball.

When the basketball team wasn?t using the court, Bruce rolled the ball out to mid-court and told his players ?anything goes? to get the ball to either end.

Bruce?s team later won three games in eight days ? thanks to a Tuesday makeup game sandwiched between two Friday night games ? without sustaining any injuries.

?That?s the toughness of football,? he said. ?That?s what you win with.?

cont...
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http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com...304170046/Earle-Bruce-regales-University-Club
 
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Bruce knows history, and not just the football kind

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Richard Parrish
Earle Bruce

Former OSU head football coach Earle Bruce speaks to the media during his visit to Cridersville Healthcare and Daniel Bowsher Log Home in Cridersville on Thursday. RICHARD PARRISH / The Lima News

Posted: Thursday, July 18, 2013
Mark Altstaetter

CRIDERSVILLE ? For most of his life, former Ohio State football head coach Earle Bruce has displayed an insatiable passion for football.

However, the 82-year-old Bruce does find time for other interests.

On Thursday, Bruce made a stop at the Bowsher Log House Museum in Cridersville to join John Carnes, the curator of the Allen County Museum, to talk about the American Civil War. The event was part of the Rally ?Round the Cabin Series, sponsored by the Historical Society and the Cridersville Healthcare Center.

?I taught history in school,? Bruce said. ?I took it in school and really loved it. The Civil War is a great period to teach and to read about.?

Along with his interest in football and history, Bruce also puts time into the health care field.

?I do some things in Alzheimer?s research around the state,? Bruce said. ?I help raise money for it. I want to help people. I did own a home health care business at one time. My dad had Alzheimer?s and we had to get home health care for both my mother and dad.?

Bruce has been a Buckeye for most of his life. He played fullback on the OSU freshman team in 1950 and suffered a knee injury before his sophomore season, which cut his playing career short.

However, after getting injured, the legendary OSU coach Woody Hayes gave Bruce a position on the staff, until he graduated in 1953.

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http://www.limaohio.com/sports/article_bc51b56e-f00d-11e2-bc70-001a4bcf6878.html
 
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