Dave McClain (January 28, 1938 – April 28, 1986) 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 served as the head coach at

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...

from 1971 to 1977 and at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

from 1978 to 1985, compiling a career

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

record of 92–67–6.

Playing career

A native of

Upper Sandusky, Ohio Upper Sandusky is a city and the county seat of Wyandot County, Ohio, Wyandot County, Ohio, United States, along the upper Sandusky River, which flows north to Sandusky Bay and Lake Erie. The city is approximately 59 mi (96 km) south of ...

, McClain was a 1956 graduate of

Upper Sandusky High School Upper Sandusky High School is a public high school in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Upper Sandusky Exempted Village School District. Their nickname is the Rams. The school covers approximately . Team State champions * ...

and a 1960 graduate of

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

, where he played both

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

. As a basketball player for Upper Sandusky, McClain held the career-scoring record from 1956 through 1982 with 1079 points.

Coaching career

McClain started his coaching career at Crestline High School in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

with an 8–1 record and then returned to Bowling Green as a graduate assistant in 1961, where he served as freshmen offensive coach. He then served as an assistant coach at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

under

Tom Harp Thomas Harp (born c. 1927) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Cornell University (1961–1965), Duke University (1967–1970), and Indiana State University (1973–1977), compiling a career col ...

in 1962; at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

under

Bo Schembechler Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler Jr. ( ; April 1, 1929 – November 17, 2006) was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the University of ...

, 1963–1966; at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

under

Pepper Rodgers Franklin Cullen "Pepper" Rodgers (October 8, 1931 – May 14, 2020) was an American football player and coach. As a college football player, he led the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to an undefeated season in 1952 and later became their head ...

, 1967–1968; and at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

under

Woody Hayes Wayne Woodrow Hayes (February 14, 1913 – March 12, 1987) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Denison University (1946–1948), Miami University in Oxford, Ohio (1949–1950), and Ohio State University (1951 ...

in 1969–1970 before accepting the head coaching job at Ball State. During his seven seasons at Ball State, McClain compiled a 46–25–3 (.642) record. During his tenure, Ball State joined Division I and the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

(MAC). He was the MAC Coach of the Year in 1975. The 1976, team captured the school's first MAC title in only its second year in the conference. Following his successful run at Ball State, McClain was hired as the head football coach at the

, where he served from 1978 to 1985. During his tenure he compiled a 46–42–3 (.522) record, including a 1–2 record in post-season

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

s. He led the

Badgers Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by the ...

to back to back seven-win seasons in 1981 and 1982. McClain was the first coach in Badger football history to win the first four games of his head coaching tenure at Wisconsin. He also recorded Wisconsin football's first post-season bowl victory, a 14–3 win over the

Kansas State Wildcats The Kansas State Wildcats (variously "Kansas State", "K-State", or "KSU") are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Kansas State University. The official color of the teams is Royal Purple; white and silver are generally used as c ...

in the

1982 Independence Bowl The 1982 Independence Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Kansas State Wildcats at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana on December 11, 1982. The game was the final contest of t ...

Death and honors

McClain's coaching career was cut short when he died on April 28, 1986 of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

. He was 48 years of age. Following his death, he was inducted into the Bowling Green State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986. He was inducted into the Ball State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990. Also, the Dave McClain Athletic Facility at the University of Wisconsin–Madison was named in his memory. In 1986, the

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 ...

dedicated its football

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

award in honor of McClain. In 2011, McClain was inducted into UW's Athletic Hall of Fame.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McClain, Dave 1938 births 1986 deaths American football quarterbacks American football safeties Ball State Cardinals football coaches Bowling Green Falcons football coaches Bowling Green Falcons football players Cornell Big Red football coaches Kansas Jayhawks football coaches Miami RedHawks football coaches Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches Wisconsin Badgers football coaches High school football coaches in Ohio People from Upper Sandusky, Ohio Coaches of American football from Ohio Players of American football from Ohio