Update: Added Part II of the lecture below.
Post below, my 2020 guest lecture at U-M course EDUC 212: The History of Intercollegiate Athletics covering the career and legacy of Fielding H. Yost.
Preface: My goal here is to cover Yost’s career in about 45 minutes and it’s meant to be a light touch. I tried to throw in a few fun stories to keep in entertaining. Also, note that the course covers in details certain facets of the story (U-M facilities including Yost Field House and Michigan Stadium, the forming of the B1G, etc.) so I moved through those topics quickly.
Part I: Early life, career and his first year (1901) at Michigan:
Part II: Yost’s coaching career, his time as athletic director, and his legacy:
A huge thank you to my man Chase Colley for filming the lecture!
Check out all the Michigan History videos, including (soon) the rest of this lecture on my YouTube Channel.
Show notes (Part I):
- 0:00 – Context, intro
- 0:56 – Current headlines in college football
- 1:48 – Themes that emerge in the lecture
- 2:50 – Thank yous (Bentley, #1000SSS, and authors, particulary John U. Bacon, John Behee. Robert Soderstrom and John Kryk of Stagg vs. Yost)
- 3:16 – Dooley’s 4 Eras of Michigan Football(TM)
- 3:40 – Yost’s early days in WVU
- 4:15 – “The Yost Affair” Ringer at Lafayette
- 4:50 – Coaching across the country, pre-Michigan
- 5:50 – Dr. Naismith and the sudden appearance of “freshman” George Krebs :)
- 7:53 – Early fake “loans” to Michigan players – Baird–>Dutch Ferbert
- 9:30 – Harper’s Weekly Expose, B1G forms, 1900 sucks in Ann Arbor
- 10:20 – Hiring Yost, the Professional Coach, football-only contract
- 11:23 – 1901, goes perfect 550-0.
- 12:20 – The Disruptor
- 13:30 – Willie Heston
- 14:30 – Hurry Up Yost Cigars
- 15:30 – Neil Snow and the Detroit Beer Ad (Name, Image, Likeness)
Show notes (Part II):
- 0:44 – Recruiting Walter Eckersall (against Chicago and Amos Alonzo Stagg)
- 2:10 – 1905 Chicago 2, Michigan 0 – Denny Clark
- 3:00 – Summing up the Point-A-Minute era
- 3:42 – The popularity of college football soars, and the impact
- 4:15 – Thomas Edision films the 1904 Chicago-Michigan game
- 4:50 – Yost’s personality (arrogance, ego, love of attention)
- 6:15 – Yost vs. President Angell and the B1G dealing with college football
- 7:24 – Leaving the Big Ten
- 8:25 – Shorty Longman’s dog Mike..and Yost’s response
- 9:44 – Michigan returns to the Big Ten (and makes it “10”)
- 10:44 – Becoming athletic director
- 11:30 – Speaking around the country
- 12:10 – Building Yost Field House, and naming the building after Yost
- 13:05 – The rise of college superstars, Yost vs. Rockne
- 14:49 – Harry Kipke and the 1923 title
- 15:03 – Benny Friedman and Bennie Oosterbaan
- 15:35 – Stadium Boom around the Big Ten
- 16:05 – Building Michigan Stadium
- 16:41 – Yost vs. Robert Angell for the stadium
- 18:00 – Stadium Bonds
- 18:37 – Yost drops Michigan Stadium
- 19:20 – Other projects (The Coliseum, the Intramural Sports Building, the U-M Golf Course)
- 19:41 – The Carnegie Report
- 20:51 – Stock Market crash
- 21:21 – Stagg forced to retire from Chicago
- 22:10 – Harry Kipke hired
- 22:50 – Georgia Tech/Willis Ward Incident
- 24:45 – Kipke Fired – the reasons
- 25:58 – Harry Bennett, Kipke’s friend and Henry Ford’s Enforcer
- 26:43 – Tom Harmon has second thoughts at Michigan
- 27:41 – Fritz Crisler Hired
- 28:37 – Yost’s Legacy
- 28:45 – Coaching Record in the Big Ten .888 win percentage
- 29:12 – Coaching Tree
- 29:49 – Value of Michigan Athletics near $1 billion
- 30:10 – Flaws – Ego, Arrogance, Racism
- 32:22 – Big Ten Championship Trophy named after Stagg
- 34:01 – Lasting Legacy, the Importance of Athletics, The Spirit of Michigan
SPONSOR: Thanks to my friends at Underground Printing!
