Coaching Legends in Atlantic City (1957)

This edition of eBay Watch takes a look at a special pint glass. Like I’ve found with many of these memorabilia auctions the description doesn’t quite make sense and certainly doesn’t do the item justice:

Up for bid we are listing 9 vintage football glasses all in mint condition. This one is Herbert ” Fritz ” Crisler from the University of Michigan 1957. The top of the glass reads Atlantic City National Football Clinic. The back lists the Clinic staff members. It measures 5-3/4″ tall. Great piece for the collector. Paypal preferred or money order only.

Yes, it’s an old pint glass for a football clinic with famous Michigan coach and athletic director Fritz Crisler on it. That got my attention. But on the back of the glass it lists the rest of the staff for the event and it’s remarkable. Here’s a photo of the piece which recently sold on eBay for $15:

Check out some of the legends that attended the conference in the city where the sand turns to gold from March 11-14, 1957:

• The top of the list of coaches is the great Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant, who at the time was still the head man at Texas A&M. 1957 was his final season for the Aggies as his “momma called” him back to Alabama where he stayed until 1982. He delivered six national championships to the Crimson Tide.

• Moving down the pint lists Al Davis of The Citadel. That’s THE Al Davis, the eccentric man in black who owns the NFL’s Oakland Raiders. Many forget that Davis was actually a coach, with stints at The Citadel and USC, and coached the Raiders themselves for three seasons.

• Continuing we’ve got Ray Eliot of the University of Illinois. Eliot coached the Illini from 1942-1959, claiming three Big Ten and two Rose Bowl championships.  He was succeeded in 1960 by Michigan player Pete Elliott (brother of Bump) who was a football honorary captain in 2008.

• Then there’s Charles “Rip” Engle, head man at Penn State from 1950-1965. He coached Joe Paterno at Brown, and then was succeed by JoePa. He invented a game called Angleball to keep players in shape in the off-season, and was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.

• You might know the name Forest Evashevski as he was quarterback in the single wing backfield with Tom Harmon on some of Crisler’s greatest teams. As you can see on the glass, he left Michigan to pursue coaching and eventually took the head gig at the University of Iowa where he led the Hawkeyes to two conference titles and a pair of Rose Bowl wins in nine seasons. “Evy” is also enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.

• Skipping down to the bottom, the staff included Ray Graves, an assistant coach at Georgia Tech under the legendary Bobby Dodd. He later took the head job at Florida from 1960-1970 and led Gators to five bowl appearances and was the ball coach of Heisman recipient and grade-A red ass Steve Spurrier. Yep, he’s in the College Football Hall of Fame.

What a stunning collection of coaching talent. You can view the full auction here.

Related:
50th Anniversary of the 2 point conversion
The Man Who Changed Football (Old Sports Illustrated piece on Crisler)
Honorary Captains, Miami OH game