The Cradle of Coaches

You've heard about Miami (Ohio) being "The Cradle of Coaches."

You may recall some of the names. It is simply amazing to walk through their Hall of Honor in the lobby of Millett Hall, as I did last night, and look at the photos and the names.

Some we know: Paul Dietzel and Bill Arnsparger, former LSU football coaches and Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame members.

Many more we've heard about: Bo Schembechler, the iconic Michigan coach ... his mentor and rival, Woody Hayes of Ohio State ... the Buckeye's current coach, Jim Tressel ... Ara Parseghian of Notre Dame ... Weeb Ewbank of the Joe Namath-led Super Bowl champion New York Jets (Namath is a native of New Castle, PA, BTW) ... Paul Brown, father of Ohio's two NFL franchises and namesake of one ... Sid Gillman, the innovative NFL coach, and a couple I didn't know about, Walter Alston, longtime manager of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, and Randy Ayres, former Ohio State basketball coach ... not to forget the current Miami coach, alumnus Charlie Coles.

Consider this: in 1959, Miami graduates Dietzel (LSU) and Parseghian (Notre Dame) were coaching the Nos. 1 and 2-ranked major college teams in the country, and Brown, Gillman and Ewbank were among the leading coaches in pro football.

There is a page in the media guide full of current coaches and adminstrators from Miami, including Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.

Now, back to basketball!