Ernie McCoy (athletic director)
Encyclopedia
Ernest B. "Ernie" McCoy (June 5, 1905 – May 1983) was an All-America
n basketball
player at the University of Michigan
from 1927 to 1929. After graduating, he spent his entire professional career in college athletics, serving as the athletic director at Penn State (1952–1970), the athletic director at the University of Miami
(1971–1973), and a basketball coach (1949–1952), assistant football coach, and assistant athletic director (1946–1952) at Michigan. He is most remembered as the athletic director who hired Joe Paterno
as head football coach at Penn State in 1966.
, McCoy was raised in Detroit, Michigan
. He attended Detroit's Northwestern High School
and was the first Detroit public school student who went on to be named a college basketball All-American. He played three years as a varsity basketball player at Michigan from 1927 to 1929. As a sophomore in 1927, McCoy scored 80 points and played on a 14–3 Big Ten Conference
championship team along with Bennie Oosterbaan
(130 points) and Edward Harrigan
(153 points). The 1928 team finished in fifth place place but has the distinction of having three of the five starters (McCoy, Oosterbaan, and Bill Orwig
) having gone on to be successful coaches and athletic directors at major college programs. McCoy was named captain of Michigan's 1929 basketball team, and as captain he and Bill Orwig
led the Wolverines to the school's fourth Big Ten basketball championship. McCoy was also named Michigan's third All-American in basketball. Known more for his defense and playmaking, McCoy scored 208 points in three seasons of varsity basketball. He also earned two varsity letters in baseball
and was awarded the Western Conference Medal of Honor for scholarship and athletics in 1929.
at Columbia University
, and worked as coach, teacher and athletic director at a high school in Montclair, New Jersey
for eight years. He later became athletic director at Montclair Teachers College
, a position he held for three years. In addition, McCoy served as Montclair's third all-time head football coach.
described McCoy as "a Michigan man" and lured him back to Ann Arbor
as an assistant football coach and freshman baseball coach. During World War II
, McCoy took a leave from Michigan to serve in the United States Navy
. In 1946, Crisler named McCoy as the school's assistant athletic director. He was an assistant basketball coach in 1947–48 and took over as head coach for the 1948–49 season. In his first season as the Wolverines' basketball coach, the team went 15-6 and finished third in the Big Ten as Pete Elliott
and Bob Harrison were both selected as All-Big Ten players. In 1950, the team dropped to 11–11 and followed with successive 7–15 finishes in 1951 and 1952. Overall, McCoy had a 40–47 record (18–34 in conference) in four years as Michigan's head basketball coach.
During his time at Michigan, McCoy was an advocate for intercollegiate athletics but also for maintaining a balance between athletics and academics. In a 1950 speech, McCoy noted that athletics "are definitely part of our educational system -- it builds character, fortitude, the will to win and to keep your chin up when you lose." However, he also warned against the constant demands of fans and alumni to win at all costs: "The constant demand from the alumnus for a winning team may ruin athletics...If a coaching staff fulfills its duties in the class room and can develop high ideals of character in athletes, then the administrators are wrong in firing the coach." In 1952, a senior U-M physical education professor said of McCoy: "He has a broad viewpoint on the relationships between the intercollegiate athletic department and the University's physical education department. His ability to combine all the virtues of an academic dean with the attributes of an intercollegiate athletic director is outstanding."
as a recreation center for students and faculty, but also as a training ground for students in the recreation and parks program, and as a demonstration project for the entire state in outdoor education. McCoy also had the foresight to anticipate the importance of science and medicine in athletics, directing the college into research in the field of athletics, biomechanics
and human performance labs. In 1969, McCoy pioneered the Sports Research Institute at Penn State, which has contributed to safer practices in all aspects of athletics and to research in the fields of sports physiology, biomechanics, and sports medicine. He oversaw an era of tremendous growth and revitalization and led the development of a new ice skating rink, new bowling alleys and a wide variety of recreational facilities. In the late 1960s, he also led the campaign for a new football stadium, new tennis courts and an enlarged gymnasium and recreational facilities. During his years at Penn State, McCoy also occupied positions on the NCAA committee on injuries and safety, and later on the highly-coveted NCAA Executive Committee and Council, its policy-making body, and also served as vice-president and secretary-treasurer of the NCAA. He was also a past president of the Eastern College Athletic Conference.
When Penn State finished with a 5–5 record in 1965, Rip Engle
stepped down after 16 years as head coach. It was McCoy's job to find a replacement. In February 1966, McCoy chose Engle's assistant, Joe Paterno
, who remains the Nittany Lions head coach 45 years later. Paterno recalled the hiring process this way: "The guy who was the athletic director, Ernie McCoy, the dean of the college of phys ed, called me into his office. He said, 'Do you want the job?' I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'Okay.' We shook hands, and he said, 'You get 20,000 bucks a year." Paterno went on to win over 400 games and two national championships as Penn State's head coach.
When the Nittany Lions traveled to Pasadena
in 1966 to play the UCLA Bruins
, McCoy met with the local press. While acknowledging that Penn State was rebuilding, he guaranteed that the team would make Pennsylvanians proud: "We may not be big enough, or strong enough, and we may not have enough experience for UCLA. But the folks back in Pennsylvania are going to be proud of our team. They'll be in there trying all the way." McCoy did play a key role in building a program that made the State of Pennsylvania proud. In an interview in 2007, Paterno credited McCoy as "the guy who really turned this whole athletic program around."
In June 1970, McCoy announced his retirement after 18 years at Penn State. The Daily News in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
reported at the time: "Trying to separate Ernie McCoy from athletics is like trying to separate an Englishman from his tea -- it's next to impossible."
asked him to serve temporarily as athletic director until order was restored following the resignation of Charlie Tate
. In November 1971, McCoy hired Pete Elliott
to become his successor as Miami's athletic director starting in 1972. Those plans went awry when Miami football coach Fran Curci
resigned in December 1971 to take a job at Kentucky
. McCoy asked Elliott to take over as head coach on an interim basis. McCoy agreed to remain the athletic director for another year so Elliott could focus on the football team and then take over as athletic director once the football program was settled. McCoy noted, "We're protecting the title of director of athletics for him because that's the job he came here for. He agreed to take the coaching job in a dire emergency." McCoy had coached Elliott in both basketball and football at the University of Michigan in the late 1940s. The 1972 football season did not turn out well for Miami, as the Hurricanes drew only 22,000 fans a game. McCoy also became embroiled in a controversy with administrators at Tulane University
in October 1972. After an official lost track and granted the Hurricanes an illegal "fifth down", Miami scored the winning touchdown with one minute left in a game against Tulane. The touchdown broke an eight-game Miami losing streak, and Tulane administrators and New Orleans sports writers bitterly attacked McCoy for poor sportsmanship when he declined to forfeit the game as a result of the game-changing error. McCoy defended his decision, noting that he had consulted with several national football authorities, who had advised him that NCAA rules discouraged forfeitures in order to avoid creating a precedent for appellate decisions on games changed by allegedly improper officiating decisions. McCoy finally retired as Miami's athletic director in November 1973, leaving Elliott as his successor. At the time, McCoy said, "This is it for me. I'm going to retire and go back to Pennsylvania and leave it to Pete and his staff."
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 basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player at the University of Michigan
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...
from 1927 to 1929. After graduating, he spent his entire professional career in college athletics, serving as the athletic director at Penn State (1952–1970), the athletic director at the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
(1971–1973), and a basketball coach (1949–1952), assistant football coach, and assistant athletic director (1946–1952) at Michigan. He is most remembered as the athletic director who hired Joe Paterno
Joe Paterno
Joseph Vincent "Joe" Paterno is a former college football coach who was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for 46 years from 1966 through 2011. Paterno, nicknamed "JoePa," holds the record for the most victories by an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision football coach with...
as head football coach at Penn State in 1966.
Athlete at University of Michigan
Though born in Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, McCoy was raised in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
. He attended Detroit's Northwestern High School
Northwestern High School (Michigan)
Northwestern High School is a secondary education facility in Detroit, Michigan. The most recent enrollment figures for Northwestern indicate a student population of approximately 2,000. Northwestern High School features numerous extracurricular activities; including: Debate, US Army JROTC,...
and was the first Detroit public school student who went on to be named a college basketball All-American. He played three years as a varsity basketball player at Michigan from 1927 to 1929. As a sophomore in 1927, McCoy scored 80 points and played on a 14–3 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...
championship team along with 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...
(130 points) and Edward Harrigan
Edward Harrigan
Edward Harrigan was an American actor, playwright, theatre manager, and composer. Harrigan and Tony Hart formed the first famous collaboration in American musical theatre.-Life and career:...
(153 points). The 1928 team finished in fifth place place but has the distinction of having three of the five starters (McCoy, Oosterbaan, and Bill Orwig
Bill Orwig
James Wilfred "Bill" Orwig was a basketball and American football player at the University of Michigan. He later served as the athletic director at the University of Toledo, University of Nebraska, and Indiana University....
) having gone on to be successful coaches and athletic directors at major college programs. McCoy was named captain of Michigan's 1929 basketball team, and as captain he and Bill Orwig
Bill Orwig
James Wilfred "Bill" Orwig was a basketball and American football player at the University of Michigan. He later served as the athletic director at the University of Toledo, University of Nebraska, and Indiana University....
led the Wolverines to the school's fourth Big Ten basketball championship. McCoy was also named Michigan's third All-American in basketball. Known more for his defense and playmaking, McCoy scored 208 points in three seasons of varsity basketball. He also earned two varsity letters in baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
and was awarded the Western Conference Medal of Honor for scholarship and athletics in 1929.
Montclair
McCoy completed a master's degree in physical educationPhysical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, and worked as coach, teacher and athletic director at a high school in Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 38,977 people, 15,020 households, and 9,687 families residing in the township. The population density was 6,183.6 people per square mile . There were 15,531 housing units at an average density of 2,464.0 per square mile...
for eight years. He later became athletic director at Montclair Teachers College
Montclair State University
Montclair State University is a public research university located in the Upper Montclair section of Montclair, the Great Notch area of Little Falls, and Clifton, New Jersey. As of October 2009, there were 18,171 total enrolled students: 14,139 undergraduate students and 4,032 graduate students...
, a position he held for three years. In addition, McCoy served as Montclair's third all-time head football coach.
Coach and assistant athletic director at Michigan
In 1940, Fritz CrislerFritz 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...
described McCoy as "a Michigan man" and lured him back to Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
as an assistant football coach and freshman baseball coach. 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...
, McCoy took a leave from Michigan to serve in the United States Navy
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...
. In 1946, Crisler named McCoy as the school's assistant athletic director. He was an assistant basketball coach in 1947–48 and took over as head coach for the 1948–49 season. In his first season as the Wolverines' basketball coach, the team went 15-6 and finished third in the Big Ten as Pete Elliott
Pete Elliott
-External links:...
and Bob Harrison were both selected as All-Big Ten players. In 1950, the team dropped to 11–11 and followed with successive 7–15 finishes in 1951 and 1952. Overall, McCoy had a 40–47 record (18–34 in conference) in four years as Michigan's head basketball coach.
During his time at Michigan, McCoy was an advocate for intercollegiate athletics but also for maintaining a balance between athletics and academics. In a 1950 speech, McCoy noted that athletics "are definitely part of our educational system -- it builds character, fortitude, the will to win and to keep your chin up when you lose." However, he also warned against the constant demands of fans and alumni to win at all costs: "The constant demand from the alumnus for a winning team may ruin athletics...If a coaching staff fulfills its duties in the class room and can develop high ideals of character in athletes, then the administrators are wrong in firing the coach." In 1952, a senior U-M physical education professor said of McCoy: "He has a broad viewpoint on the relationships between the intercollegiate athletic department and the University's physical education department. His ability to combine all the virtues of an academic dean with the attributes of an intercollegiate athletic director is outstanding."
Penn State
In 1952, he accepted the job as athletic director at Penn State. During his 18 years at Penn State, McCoy also served as Dean of the College of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. He shepherded the redesignation of the college in 1963, changing its name from the College of Physical Education and Athletics. It was McCoy who brought to realization Penn State's 700 acres (2.8 km²) Stone Valley Recreation AreaStone Valley Recreation Area
Stone Valley Recreation Area is an outdoor recreational and educational facility operated by The Pennsylvania State University. It is located in Huntingdon County near the village of Mooresville. The property is located over the mountain from the village of Pine Grove Mills, Pennsylvania along...
as a recreation center for students and faculty, but also as a training ground for students in the recreation and parks program, and as a demonstration project for the entire state in outdoor education. McCoy also had the foresight to anticipate the importance of science and medicine in athletics, directing the college into research in the field of athletics, biomechanics
Biomechanics
Biomechanics is the application of mechanical principles to biological systems, such as humans, animals, plants, organs, and cells. Perhaps one of the best definitions was provided by Herbert Hatze in 1974: "Biomechanics is the study of the structure and function of biological systems by means of...
and human performance labs. In 1969, McCoy pioneered the Sports Research Institute at Penn State, which has contributed to safer practices in all aspects of athletics and to research in the fields of sports physiology, biomechanics, and sports medicine. He oversaw an era of tremendous growth and revitalization and led the development of a new ice skating rink, new bowling alleys and a wide variety of recreational facilities. In the late 1960s, he also led the campaign for a new football stadium, new tennis courts and an enlarged gymnasium and recreational facilities. During his years at Penn State, McCoy also occupied positions on the NCAA committee on injuries and safety, and later on the highly-coveted NCAA Executive Committee and Council, its policy-making body, and also served as vice-president and secretary-treasurer of the NCAA. He was also a past president of the Eastern College Athletic Conference.
When Penn State finished with a 5–5 record in 1965, Rip Engle
Rip Engle
Charles A. "Rip" Engle was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. He served as the head football coach at Brown University from 1944 to 1949 and at Pennsylvania State University from 1950 to 1965, compiling a career college football record of 132–68–8...
stepped down after 16 years as head coach. It was McCoy's job to find a replacement. In February 1966, McCoy chose Engle's assistant, Joe Paterno
Joe Paterno
Joseph Vincent "Joe" Paterno is a former college football coach who was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for 46 years from 1966 through 2011. Paterno, nicknamed "JoePa," holds the record for the most victories by an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision football coach with...
, who remains the Nittany Lions head coach 45 years later. Paterno recalled the hiring process this way: "The guy who was the athletic director, Ernie McCoy, the dean of the college of phys ed, called me into his office. He said, 'Do you want the job?' I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'Okay.' We shook hands, and he said, 'You get 20,000 bucks a year." Paterno went on to win over 400 games and two national championships as Penn State's head coach.
When the Nittany Lions traveled to Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
in 1966 to play the UCLA Bruins
UCLA Bruins Football
The UCLA Bruins football program represents the University of California, Los Angeles in college football as members of the Pacific-12 Conference at the NCAA Division I FBS level. The Bruins have enjoyed several periods of success in their history, having been ranked in the top ten of the AP Poll...
, McCoy met with the local press. While acknowledging that Penn State was rebuilding, he guaranteed that the team would make Pennsylvanians proud: "We may not be big enough, or strong enough, and we may not have enough experience for UCLA. But the folks back in Pennsylvania are going to be proud of our team. They'll be in there trying all the way." McCoy did play a key role in building a program that made the State of Pennsylvania proud. In an interview in 2007, Paterno credited McCoy as "the guy who really turned this whole athletic program around."
In June 1970, McCoy announced his retirement after 18 years at Penn State. The Daily News in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
Huntingdon is a borough in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Huntingdon County. It is located along the Juniata River, west of Harrisburg, about halfway between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, in an agricultural and fruit-growing region, with valuable forests and deposits of...
reported at the time: "Trying to separate Ernie McCoy from athletics is like trying to separate an Englishman from his tea -- it's next to impossible."
University of Miami
McCoy came out of retirement in February 1971 when the University of MiamiUniversity of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
asked him to serve temporarily as athletic director until order was restored following the resignation of Charlie Tate
Charlie Tate
Charles William "Charlie" Tate was an American college football player and coach. Tate served as the head coach of the University of Miami for six seasons during the 1960s and two games during the 1970 season....
. In November 1971, McCoy hired Pete Elliott
Pete Elliott
-External links:...
to become his successor as Miami's athletic director starting in 1972. Those plans went awry when Miami football coach Fran Curci
Fran Curci
Fran Curci is a former American football player and coach. He was an All-American quarterback at the University of Miami in 1959...
resigned in December 1971 to take a job at Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
. McCoy asked Elliott to take over as head coach on an interim basis. McCoy agreed to remain the athletic director for another year so Elliott could focus on the football team and then take over as athletic director once the football program was settled. McCoy noted, "We're protecting the title of director of athletics for him because that's the job he came here for. He agreed to take the coaching job in a dire emergency." McCoy had coached Elliott in both basketball and football at the University of Michigan in the late 1940s. The 1972 football season did not turn out well for Miami, as the Hurricanes drew only 22,000 fans a game. McCoy also became embroiled in a controversy with administrators at Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
in October 1972. After an official lost track and granted the Hurricanes an illegal "fifth down", Miami scored the winning touchdown with one minute left in a game against Tulane. The touchdown broke an eight-game Miami losing streak, and Tulane administrators and New Orleans sports writers bitterly attacked McCoy for poor sportsmanship when he declined to forfeit the game as a result of the game-changing error. McCoy defended his decision, noting that he had consulted with several national football authorities, who had advised him that NCAA rules discouraged forfeitures in order to avoid creating a precedent for appellate decisions on games changed by allegedly improper officiating decisions. McCoy finally retired as Miami's athletic director in November 1973, leaving Elliott as his successor. At the time, McCoy said, "This is it for me. I'm going to retire and go back to Pennsylvania and leave it to Pete and his staff."
Family, awards and honors
McCoy was married to a fellow University of Michigan alumnus, and their son also attended Michigan. As a result of his nearly fifty years in collegiate athletics, McCoy has received numerous awards and honors, including the following:- In 1973, McCoy received the James J. Corbett Memorial AwardCorbett AwardThe James J. Corbett Memorial Award is a US award given annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics . It is presented "to the collegiate administrator who through the years has most typified Corbett's devotion to intercollegiate athletics and worked unceasingly for...
from the National Association of Collegiate Directors of AthleticsNational Association of Collegiate Directors of AthleticsThe National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics is a professional organization for college and university athletic directors in the United States. NACDA boasts a membership of more than 6,100 individuals and more than 1,600 institutions throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico...
, which is presented annually to the collegiate administrator who "through the years has most typified Corbett’s devotion to intercollegiate athletics and worked unceasingly for its betterment." - In 1977, McCoy was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in Williamsport, PennsylvaniaWilliamsport, PennsylvaniaWilliamsport is a city in and the county seat of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. In 2009, the population was estimated at 29,304...
. - In 1986, he was posthumously inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of HonorUniversity of Michigan Athletic Hall of HonorThe 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...
. - The McCoy Natatorium at Penn State is named after McCoy.