The History of College Athletics | University of Michigan EDUC 212

EDUC 212-001 [Course#22431], 3 Credits 
Mondays & Wednesdays, 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Schorling Auditorium Room 1202, School of Education
**Note: This course is available as an elective to all undergrad students. Check with your advisor with questions

COURSE OVERVIEW: In June 2022, traditional football powers USC and UCLA announced their intention to leave the Pac-12 conference and join the Big Ten, a move clearly based solely inspired by the financial security brought by the B1G $7B+ television contract.  A year later the Pac-12, a conference formed in 1915, was in ruins after five more teams exited the league.  The demand, dollars, and popularity of the sport could be at its height, but the consequences to its foundation have been severe and full repercussions have yet to be determined.

We’ve become so accustomed to watching nationally televised football games played before packed stadiums on college campuses, we rarely stop to wonder how this institution ever came into being. What now seems natural was actually anything but.   

On paper, the marriage between televised sports and major universities seems an odd one. No other nation takes college sports seriously. Why do we?  

To answer this question we examine several key stages of growth in football, the powerful events, and fascinating personalities that shaped the game.  In particular, we will examine the evolution of athletics, particularly football, at the University of Michigan and learn how U-M has continued to do more to determine the direction of college sports than any other university to the present day – for better or worse, depending on your view. 

College football is more than a multi-billion dollar industry; it is a quintessential part of American culture.  Many argue we find ourselves at a critical juncture in the sport: with major conference realignment, massive TV contracts, escalating coaching pay, stunning administrative scandals/lawsuits, cries of inequity across other sports and gender lines, and the ability of student-athletes to directly claim financial rewards (NIL).  We will discuss these issues and draw historic ties along the way.  History, it is said, doesn’t repeat itself but it rhymes.

At the end of this course, students will understand how the institution of college athletics became so, and what that has meant and continues to mean today, for student-athletes, non-athletes, administrators, academics, minority students, women, and fans. 

P.S. – I’m also going to lead EDUC 240: Leading By Coaching, more deets on that course here.