Alan J. Bovard (September 24, 1906 – July 11, 1983) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and coach. He was an All-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1929. He later served as the athletic director at

Michigan Technological University Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. ...

from 1947 to 1972 and the head football coach from 1947 to 1956.

Athlete

Bovard was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, and grew up in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...

. He enrolled at the

in 1926 and played at the

position for the

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins in college football history. The team is known for its ...

teams from 1926 to 1929. As a senior in 1929, he was selected as an All-

player.

High school coach

Bovard graduated from Michigan in 1930 and served as an assistant football coach under

Harry Kipke Harry George Kipke (; March 26, 1899 – September 14, 1972) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He was the head football coach at Michigan State College in 1928 and at the University of Michigan from 1929 to 1937 ...

for the 1930 Michigan Wolverines football team. He was employed as a high school football and basketball coach from 1931 to 1947. He coached

Lansing Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, makin ...

J. W. Sexton High School J. W. Sexton High School is a public school located on the western edge of Lansing, Michigan, United States, in the Lansing School District. The principal is currently Daniel Boggan. The Sexton J-Dubbs are members of the Capital Area Activit ...

basketball team to Michigan's Class A championship in the 1944-1945 season and also coached the school's football team to the state Class A championship in 1946.

Michigan Tech

In January 1947, Bovard was hired as the athletic director, head football coach and head of the physical education department at

. He served as the football coach from 1947 to 1956. In 1948, Bovard led the

Michigan Tech Huskies Michigan Technological University's sports teams are called the Huskies. The Huskies participate in NCAA Division II as a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), a member of the Central Collegiate Ski Association f ...

football team to its first undefeated season, finishing the season with a 7–0 record and outscoring opponents 209 to 58. He served as athletic director for 25 years and expanded Michigan Tech's athletic program into eleven varsity and seventeen intramural programs. Bovard also served as the school's head basketball coach for two years, compiling a record of 19 wins and 14 losses. In October 1972, Bovard announced his retirement from Michigan Tech, effective December 31, 1972.

Death and Hall of Fame inductions

In July 1983, Bovard died in

Marquette, Michigan Marquette ( ) is a city in Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 20,629 at the 2020 United States Census, which makes it the largest city in the Upper Peninsula. Marquette serves as the seat of government of Marquett ...

, where he had been hospitalized for several weeks. Bovard was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Hall of Fame in 1976 and the Michigan Tech Hall of Fame in 1985.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bovard, Alan 1906 births 1983 deaths American football centers Michigan Tech Huskies football coaches Michigan Wolverines football coaches Michigan Wolverines football players High school basketball coaches in Michigan High school football coaches in Michigan People from Houghton, Michigan