Cliff Keen
Encyclopedia
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
collegiate wrestling
Collegiate wrestling
Collegiate wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the collegiate and university level in the United States. Collegiate wrestling emerged from the folk wrestling styles practised in the early history of the United States...
team from 1925 to 1970. He led the Michigan Wolverines
Michigan Wolverines
The Michigan Wolverines comprise 27 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except men's ice hockey which competes in the NCAA D1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association, and women's water polo, which...
to 13 Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
championships, and coached 68 All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n wrestlers. In 1976, he was one of the initial inductees into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame
National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on the campus of Oklahoma State University. The museum opened on September 11, 1976...
.
Oklahoma A&M (Oklahoma State University)
Keen was born on a ranch in Roger Mills County, OklahomaRoger Mills County, Oklahoma
Roger Mills County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 3,436. Its county seat is Cheyenne.-History:Roger Mills County takes its name from Roger Q. Mills, a prominent American politician from Texas...
, near the town of Cheyenne
Cheyenne, Oklahoma
Cheyenne is a town in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 801 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Roger Mills County.-History:...
. He got his start in wrestling as a middleweight at Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University), where he became a national champion. He was undefeated as a collegiate wrestler in weight divisions through the heavyweight class. His wrestling coach at Oklahoma A&M was Edward C. Gallagher
Edward C. Gallagher (wrestling)
Edward Clark Gallagher was the Oklahoma A&M wrestling coach from 1916-1940. With his knowledge of physical principles like leverage and stress along with anatomy he all but invented the modern style of wrestling. He remains one of the most successful coaches in NCAA athletics history...
. Keen was also a lineman for the Oklahoma A&M football team
Oklahoma State Cowboys football
The Oklahoma State Cowboys football program represents Oklahoma State University–Stillwater in college football. The team is a member of the Big 12 Conference and completes at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. The Cowboys are led by Mike Gundy, who is in his seventh year as...
and a sprinter
Sprint (race)
Sprints are short running events in athletics and track and field. Races over short distances are among the oldest running competitions. The first 13 editions of the Ancient Olympic Games featured only one event—the stadion race, which was a race from one end of the stadium to the other...
on the track
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
team. He was named to the 1924 Olympic team
1924 Summer Olympics
The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...
but did not compete because of a broken wrist. Keen graduated from Oklahoma A&M in 1924.
Keen started his coaching career in 1925 as a high school football
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
coach in Frederick, Oklahoma
Frederick, Oklahoma
Frederick is a city in Tillman County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,940 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Tillman County. This is an agriculture based community primarily with wheat, cotton, and cattle....
; his team outscored opponents 355 to 3.
Wrestling coach at Michigan
After coaching in Oklahoma for a year, Keen took a job at Michigan as the wrestling coach and assistant footballMichigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
coach. His teams won Big Ten championships in 1929, 1930 and 1938, and five of his teams in his first 12 years went through their seasons with a single defeat. One of his first great wrestlers was Ed Don George
Ed Don George
Edward Nicholas "Ed Don" George was an American professional wrestler and wrestling promoter.-Career:George was born in North Java, New York. He wrestled for both St. Bonaventure University and for the University of Michigan...
, who later became the world’s heavyweight champion.
As the wrestling coach at Michigan from 1925 to 1970, Coach Keen led the teams to a record of 268 wins, 91 losses, 9 ties and 13 Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
wrestling championships. His teams placed in the top three in the Big Ten 40 times. His wrestlers captured 11 National Collegiate titles and 81 conference crowns. In his 42 years at Michigan, he coached 68 All-Americans as well as 81 Big Ten champions. His teams once went undefeated for four years and 34 matches.
His length of service as Michigan's wrestling coach was “the longest tenure of any coach in any sport in NCAA history.”
He obtained a law degree from Michigan in 1933. Keen later said he had never intended to make a career of coaching, but wanted to go into law. He said: “I never intended to continue at coaching when I got my law degree here. But that was the depths of the depression and I needed a job. I kept saying I'd coach one more year. . . . I never expected it to last 45 years.” Asked at the time of his retirement from coaching in 1970 if he would finally open his law practice, Keen joked, “I'm going into the full practice of retiring, I think.” He took three years off from coaching to serve as a Naval
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
Commander during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. “When I came out of the service I definitely, positively decided I had to start my law practice, but Fritz Crisler
Fritz Crisler
Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler was an American football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football," an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and defense. Crisler developed two-platoon football while serving as head coach at the University of...
persuaded me to keep coaching.”
Keen was a firm believer in wrestling as a means to build character. He once said: “I believe that wrestling plays a highly educational part in the development of a boy. The fundamental that every successful wrestler must acquire, and which has great carry-over value after his student days, is self-discipline. From self-discipline stems self-confidence and belief in one's self. What greater lesson can a sport or a coach impart?"
Keen later recalled that one of the greatest moments of his career came in 1965, when his team threw a big surprise for him after the Big Ten meet. More than 200 of his former wrestlers attended, including the entire 1928 team that won the Big Ten championship. Keen said, “I take a lot of pride in what these fellows have done, not only in wrestling, but later. They've been pretty successful in a number of things and the list reads like a ‘Who's Who.’ Whenever I think of that I get a lot of pride and satisfaction.”
Keen also spent 33 years as an assistant football coach with the Wolverines, serving under head coaches Fielding H. Yost, Fritz Crisler
Fritz Crisler
Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler was an American football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football," an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and defense. Crisler developed two-platoon football while serving as head coach at the University of...
and Bennie Oosterbaan
Bennie Oosterbaan
Benjamin Gaylord "Bennie" Oosterbaan was a three-time first team All-American football end for the Michigan Wolverines football team, two-time All-American basketball player for the basketball team and an All-Big Ten Conference baseball player for the baseball team...
. During Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
's football career at Michigan, from 1932-34, Keen coached Ford as the center
Center (American football)
Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...
on the offensive
Offense (sports)
In sports, offense or offence , also known as attack, is the action of attacking or engaging an opposing team with the objective of scoring points or goals...
unit. In fact, Ford considered Keen “his coach” and maintained a friendship with Keen throughout his life.
When Keen retired in 1970, the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
reported: “Cliff Keen could have spent a career wrestling with law books. But instead he decided that wrestling itself was his ambition. That was back in 1925. Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
was president. Booze was illegal. Alexander J. Groesbeck
Alex Groesbeck
Alexander Joseph Groesbeck was an American politician who served as Attorney General and the 30th Governor of the State of Michigan.-Early life:...
was the governor of Michigan. And Cliff Keen became the University of Michigan wrestling coach. Forty-five years? How could anyone be a wrestling coach for 45 years.”
Olympics and wrestling innovator
Keen also served on the U.S. Olympic CommitteeUnited States Olympic Committee
The United States Olympic Committee is a non-profit organization that serves as the National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee for the United States and coordinates the relationship between the United States Anti-Doping Agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency and various...
from 1928 to 1952 and was manager of the 1948 Olympic
1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in London, England, United Kingdom. After a 12-year hiatus because of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics since the 1936 Games in Berlin...
team in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He was an original member and later president of the National Wrestling Coaches Association and also presided over the national rules committee.
For many years Keen pioneered the development of safe, effective, wrestling equipment such as the Cliff Keen head guard that bears his name. He is credited with developing the wrestling headgear
Wrestling headgear
Wrestling headgear is protection that a person wears over the ears and chin during wrestling matches.-Description:The main purpose of headgear is to protect the ears of the wrestler, not really the head as the name implies. Thus, wrestling headgear equipment are also simply called ear guards or ear...
used to protect wrestlers from head and ear injuries. And in 1955, Keen developed a new circular wrestling ring. At the time of its introduction, the Associated Press reported: “Michigan wrestling coach Cliff Keen saw his brainchild take shape this season – a circular wrestling ring. He has great hopes for it.” The principle behind Keen's round ring was to eliminate the corners. Keen felt it was too easy for a wrestler to reach for the edge of the ring and pull himself out. The corners also restricted movement and made it difficult to maneuver from a corner, because a shift in either direction would put one or the other out of the ring. Keen explained that the square ring was of “mechanical history.” With the ropes used in the 1930s, a square ring was needed because the ropes had to be anchored by posts. With the ropes gone from collegiate wrestling, Keen concluded it was time to free the sport of the squared ring. In 1958 Keen founded the company Cliff Keen Athletic, which is still in the business of manufacturing wrestling gear, equipment and uniforms. Keen was also one of the authors of Championship Wrestling, a leading book on wrestling technique for many years.
Honors and accolades
In 1976, Keen was one of five charter members of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. In 1980, he was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of HonorUniversity of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor
The University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, founded in 1978, recognizes University of Michigan athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made significant contributions to the university's athletic programs...
as part of the third induction class. Only three University of Michigan coaches (Fielding H. Yost, Fritz Crisler
Fritz Crisler
Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler was an American football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football," an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and defense. Crisler developed two-platoon football while serving as head coach at the University of...
and Ray Fisher
Ray Fisher
Ray Lyle Fisher was an American professional baseball pitcher. He pitched all or part of ten seasons in Major League Baseball. His debut game took place on July 2, 1910. His final game took place on October 2, 1920...
) were inducted into the Hall of Honor before Keen.
Death and family
Keen died at age 90 at his home in Ann Arbor. He was survived by a son, James Keen and a daughter, Joyce Novak. His wife Mildred Keen, and daughter Shirley (Keen) Leahy, preceded him in death. His brother Paul V. Keen coached the University of OklahomaUniversity 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...
wrestling team to a national championship. Paul Keen followed his brother into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1977.