The theme of this week’s episode is the rise and fall of great pigskin powers. The game? 1937 Michigan vs. Chicago. If these teams met at the turn of the 20th century it would have been one of the biggest games in the country. I’m talking Stagg vs. Yost huge. But on that November 6th day 84 years ago back in 1937, it was about two once-great programs in tatters. One program was on the brink of just quitting Big Ten football altogether, in fact the Maroons wouldn’t make it out of the decade. For the other, the focus was on the man on the sidelines and his lack of success on the field, and his question buddies off the field. Michigan legend and then-head coach Harry Kipke wouldn’t make it out of the year. But cheer up, there is a rosy conclusion :)
For more on the events leading to Kipke’s sacking, check out: Rough Seas for Harry Kipke.
As always, join Ira, Sam, and Steve and listen to This Week in Michigan Football History on the WTKA 1050AM Keybank Countdown to Kickoff starting four hours ahead of each game.
Script:
This week go to back November 6, 1937, as Michigan head coach Harry Kipke was set to lead his Wolverines against a former HUGE rival: the Maroons from the University of Chicago.
In 1937 our country was trying to work its way out of the Great Depression and the Wolverine athletic department was struggling to get the Big House even a QUARTER full. It was also a dark time for both the Michigan and Chicago football programs, and a far cry from the dominance the teams shared around the turn of the century.
The pressure was building on coach Kipke, an All-American player under Fielding Yost in the 1920s. He took the coaching reins in 1929 and had wild success in his first half-decade. From 1930 to 1933, his Wolverines won 4 straight conference titles including back-to-back national titles. After this remarkable start, things took a horrible turn in 1934 as team MVP Gerald Ford and crew mustered just a single win.
Things didn’t get much better in the seasons that followed for Kipke. Rumors of fake jobs and illegal practices persisted. And Ann Arbor elite found his association with a gent named Harry Bennett distasteful…and maybe they had a point. Bennett was the right-hand man of auto tycoon Henry Ford – and also his enforcer, wolf, and cleaner.
Things weren’t going much better for the University of Chicago, whose football team was a mere shadow of itself back when Amos Alonzo Stagg’s teams ruled “the West”. Stagg was forced to retire in 1932 as Chicago sought to de-emphasize athletics. Can you imagine?
On this day in 1937, Kipke earned his final victory in front of home fans, a 13-12 win over the Maroons, although just over 23 thousand bothered to show up. Michigan limped through the balance of the season and in the end, Kipke was fired. Princeton’s Fritz Crisler was selected to lead the Wolverines over the next decade.
Chicago toughed it out until 1939 when they folded the football team and left the big ten.
On the bright side: The hand-off to Crisler went swimmingly, with Kipke’s star recruit Tom Harmon helping the new coach and his winged helmet get off to a strong start. Crisler’s teams consistently finished in the top 10 and capped off his remarkable career in 1947 in Pasadena with another Meechigan national championship.
