Tell us about Earle Bruce

[Newsbreaker]

Nice documentary on HBO last night about the Ohio State v Michigan rivalry (those people need help) with a short segment, obviously, on Earle Bruce. It occurred to me that I know nothing of his brief time at UNI.

Can some of you who go back that far give us some thoughts?

[re17282]

Re: Tell us about Earle Bruce

Nice documentary on HBO last night about the Ohio State v Michigan rivalry (those people need help) with a short segment, obviously, on Earle Bruce. It occurred to me that I know nothing of his brief time at UNI.

Can some of you who go back that far give us some thoughts?

run it on first down, run it on second down, throw it on third and 8, punt

[84Alum]

Re: Tell us about Earle Bruce

You probably haven't heard that much about him...because his SHORT time here was very uneventful. I think he took the job cause he had a mortgage payment due...

[Newsbreaker]

Re: Tell us about Earle Bruce

The guy with the worst record before a run of dominance is a guy oft forgotten, no doubt, but I have to think at the time his hire was quite the story. Is there anyone else in the Panther history who is in the college football Hall of Fame?

[PantherFan]

Re: Tell us about Earle Bruce

Mudra

http://www.collegefootball.org/

[Newsbreaker]

Re: Tell us about Earle Bruce

I knew that, good catch Fan.

By the way, if anyone hasn't been to the College Football HoF, GO! A fantastic place!!!

When you go, there is a "sculpture" on the ramp down to the main area, with a bunch of football stuff and some lockers...note that one of those lockers has the name of Jay Berwanger, first Heisman Trophy Winner and native of the great state of Iowa on it.

[UNI MadCat]

Re: Tell us about Earle Bruce

Others can speak of this more than I can but my memory of Earle Bruce was in his first game at UNI he went balistic on the sideline and took off his jacket and threw it to the ground. This became a more common occurance as the season wore on.

He didnt make much of an effort to reach out to the alumni/supporters and you could just tell he was biding his time to get the heck out of here. I remember listening to his postgame interviews and he had no real interest in being in Cedar Falls. This is no real surprise as he was hated by a lot of folks at OSU, despite his success. The tide turned a bit once he was fired as the Buckeye's coach midseason and people became a little more sympathetic which is why you'll often hear him remembered "fondly" by those folks.

We were always amazed that he got hired on by Colo St later on. But it didnt take long for him to show his "true" self there either. Constantly sparring with boosters and finally, it ended after he admitted to punching and "mentally abusing" players at CSU. I'll never forget his teary-eyed exit that I felt was completly fabricated. If this had happened during the current decade, the outcry would have been far worse then it was during the relatively media-free environment (comparatively) surrounding sports in the early 90s.

Bottom line, I wish we could erase the Earle Bruce year from our history. Not just because we were a 5-6 non-playoff team, but due to the way he conducted himself around campus and on the field. He was a black eye to this program. The only positive is that, perhaps without Earle, TA never lands here. And without TA, perhaps the walk on from Waukon never lands here (though with his alumni ties, who knows).

[Purple Reign]

Re: Tell us about Earle Bruce

Others can speak of this more than I can but my memory of Earle Bruce was in his first game at UNI he went balistic on the sideline and took off his jacket and threw it to the ground. This became a more common occurance as the season wore on.

He didnt make much of an effort to reach out to the alumni/supporters and you could just tell he was biding his time to get the heck out of here. I remember listening to his postgame interviews and he had no real interest in being in Cedar Falls. This is no real surprise as he was hated by a lot of folks at OSU, despite his success. The tide turned a bit once he was fired as the Buckeye's coach midseason and people became a little more sympathetic which is why you'll often hear him remembered "fondly" by those folks.

We were always amazed that he got hired on by Colo St later on. But it didnt take long for him to show his "true" self there either. Constantly sparring with boosters and finally, it ended after he admitted to punching and "mentally abusing" players at CSU. I'll never forget his teary-eyed exit that I felt was completly fabricated. If this had happened during the current decade, the outcry would have been far worse then it was during the relatively media-free environment (comparatively) surrounding sports in the early 90s.

Bottom line, I wish we could erase the Earle Bruce year from our history. Not just because we were a 5-6 non-playoff team, but due to the way he conducted himself around campus and on the field. He was a black eye to this program. The only positive is that, perhaps without Earle, TA never lands here. And without TA, perhaps the walk on from Waukon never lands here (though with his alumni ties, who knows).

That is an excellent summary of the Earl Boooooos era.
The man had the personality of a mug wump !!!

PR

[oldcat]

Re: Tell us about Earle Bruce

PR..............you cracked me up! I can still see him wearing that stupid hat of his.

[Jonsoup]

Re: Tell us about Earle Bruce

Why bring up the DEAD BEAT COACH! All he did was cuss at the players day in and day out.

[Newsbreaker]

Re: Tell us about Earle Bruce

Why bring up the DEAD BEAT COACH! All he did was cuss at the players day in and day out.

I'll be honest, that was a full 10 years before I knew or cared a lick about UNI, as the university in those days (and to an extent today) just did not exist in Dubuque. I knew the name, and having heard a bit about him last night, was interested in the reactions to him from those who know.

[Mountain Panther]

Re: Tell us about Earle Bruce

Why bring up the DEAD BEAT COACH! All he did was cuss at the players day in and day out.

The guy makes Mike Dunbar look like Mark Farley.

[Cat80]

Re: Tell us about Earle Bruce

Bowlsby did a great service to the university when he and Earl negotiated the contract. Earl was used to great digs at OSU and demanded various things, classrooms and such. Other may know more about the specifics, but Earl also demanded a 3 year contract. This he received, but if he broke the contract, he would have to pay back the university the cost of the improvements he demanded. Someone else may know the math, but Earl may have paid to be the UNI coach that season. Also, he took a fastbreak team and made them play walk it up. Idiot.

[Panther89]

Re: Tell us about Earle Bruce

I remember him. I was an undergrad that year, and what I remember most about him was him pulling out in front of me on 23rd St right on that corner by Campbell Hall. He drove a ugly white van with Ohio plates, and he totally ran a stop sign and I almost hit him.
As for hiring him, it was good in the fact that it brought a little publicity with it, but not so good in the fact that football wise, his philosophy was 180 degrees opposite of what we did as a team. I was hoping that there would be some success like he had 10 years before at Iowa State. Those teams of his in the mid 70s at ISU were great teams.
I really felt sorry for him when he was canned at Ohio State. He was successful there, but not up to the normal OSU standards, so probably a victim of that success. That and the fact that Michigan had some terrific teams didn't help, along with a bit more parity in the Big 10 than was there in the 70s.
Anyway, I wish the guy well. He was who he was, and he was a great coach in his time in the right program.

[TommyT]

Re: Tell us about Earle Bruce

What can you say about the quality of a coach who can't see the ability his team has. Bruce was a freaking idiot! I remember one game where we were first and goal inside the 10 and he handed it off up the middle....4 straight times. He may have brought publicity to Cedar Falls, but did he bring anything else? Did his hiring really do anything for UNI besides cause us 1 losing season? Does anyone have information on anyone who was recruited by Bruce himself? I'm guessing no one.

By the way, this is off of Farley's bio on panthers.com. Notice it skips a coach

"With the success of individual players, the Panther program grew into a national power under Mudra and then, Terry Allen. As previously mentioned, UNI won seven consecutive Gateway titles, made seven straight FCS playoff appearances between 1990-1996, eight total, including advancing to two semifinal games."