Harry George Kipke (; March 26, 1899 – September 14, 1972) 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 ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player and coach. He was the head football coach at

Michigan State College Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

in 1928 and 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 ...

from 1929 to 1937, compiling a career record of 49–30–5. During his nine-year tenure as head coach at Michigan, Kipke's teams compiled a 46–26–4 record, won four conference titles, and captured two

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

in 1932 and 1933. He is one of only three coaches, along with

Fielding H. Yost Fielding Harris Yost (; April 30, 1871 – August 20, 1946) was an American football player, coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at: Ohio Wesleyan University, the University of Nebraska, the University ...

and Bo Schembechler, in

Michigan 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 ...

history to direct teams to four consecutive conference championships. Kipke was also the head baseball coach at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

for one season 1925 while he was an assistant football coach at the school. He was inducted into of the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

as a player in 1958.

Early years

Kipke was born in

Lansing, Michigan 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, making ...

, in March 1899. His father, Charles W. Kipke, emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1872. His mother, Minnie Kipke, emigrated from Germany in 1888. Kipke had two older sisters (Lena and Marie), an older brother (William), and three younger brothers (Herbert, Walter, and Ray). At the time of the 1910 United States Census, the family was living in Lansing, and the father was working as an assembler in a motor works.Census entry for Charles W. Kipke and family. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census atabase on-line Census Place: Lansing Ward 3, Ingham, Michigan; Roll: T624_651; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 0065; File: 369; FHL Number: 1374664. Kipke attended Lansing High School. By 1920, Kipke's father had died, and he was living with his mother and siblings in Lansing.

University of Michigan

Kipke attended the University of Michigan. He is one of the few individuals in Michigan Wolverines history to have been a letterman nine times, doing so in football, basketball, and baseball. Kipke played halfback and punter for the football team under head coach

. He was named an All-American in 1922 and is regarded as one of the school's all-time greats as a punter. His ability to punt out of bounds near the opposition's goal line helped Michigan to a 19–1–2 record from 1921 through 1923. Kipke was also the captain of the 1923 Michigan team that went 8–0 and won a national title. Kipke wore number 6 and weighed 158 pounds.

Coaching career

After serving as an assistant coach at the

for four years, Kipke was named the head football coach at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

in 1928. Michigan State had a 3–4–1 record in 1928. The following year, Kipke was hired to take over as head football coach for the Michigan Wolverines. In his first year as head coach in 1929, the Wolverines struggled, finishing in an eight place tie in

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 ...

with a 5–3–1 record. But Kipke quickly turned things around, leading the Wolverines to four straight conference championships and two national titles between 1930 and 1933. The 1932 and 1933 national championships teams did not lose any games, and featured All-Americans

Harry Newman Harry Lawrence Newman (September 5, 1909 – May 2, 2000) was an All-Pro American football quarterback. He played for the University of Michigan Wolverines (1930–32), for whom in 1932 he was a unanimous first-team All-American, and the reci ...

, Charles T. Bernard,

Ted Petoskey Frederick Lee "Ted" Petoskey (January 5, 1911 – November 30, 1996) was a three-sport athlete at the University of Michigan, a Major League Baseball player, a collegiate coach in three sports and an athletic director. At the University of Michi ...

, and Francis Wistert. Kipke called his system "a punt, a pass, and a prayer" in a 1933 article for ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

''. He also reportedly coined the phrase, "A great defense is a great offense." In 1934, Kipke's Wolverines fell from national champions to a tenth-place finish in the conference with a 1–7 record. The one bright spot in the Wolverines 1934 season was the play of the team's most valuable player,

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 eccentrici ...

and future

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

. Ford lacked the money to attend the university, but Kipke's assistance helped him to do so. The principal of Ford's high school wrote to Kipke and invited him to

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

to meet Ford. Kipke accepted the invitation and met with Ford and his family. Though there were no opportunities to obtain scholarships on the basis of playing football at the time, Kipke helped Ford find a job at the university hospital waiting on tables to earn his meals. Ford later called the opportunity to go to U of M "the luckiest break I ever had." In a 1975 speech, Ford recalled losing seven out of eight games in 1934, including a 34–0 loss to

Ohio State 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 public ...

. Ford joked that "what really hurt me the most was when my teammates voted me their most valuable player. I didn't know whether to smile or sue." Between 1934 and 1937, Kipke's team accumulated a 10–22 record. Kipke resigned after the 1937 season and was replaced by

Fritz Crisler Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler (; January 12, 1899 – August 19, 1982) was an American college football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football," an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and ...

. Before resigning, Kipke recruited

Tom Harmon Thomas Dudley Harmon (September 28, 1919 – March 15, 1990), known as Tom Harmon, as well as by the nickname "Old 98", was an American football player, military pilot, actor, and sports broadcaster. Harmon grew up in Gary, Indiana, and playe ...

to play at Michigan and advised the future

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

winner to stay with Michigan despite the coaching change.

After coaching

From 1940 to 1947, Kipke was a member of the

Board of Regents of the University of Michigan The Regents of the University of Michigan, sometimes referred to as the board of regents, are constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Michigan who collectively form the governing body of the University of Michigan, comprising the campuses a ...

. In 1942, he joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and later became president of the Coca-Cola Company of Chicago. Kipke was inducted into of the

in 1958 and the

Michigan Sports Hall of Fame The Michigan Sports Hall of Fame is a Hall of Fame to honor Michigan sports athletes, coaches and contributors. It was organized in 1954 by Michigan Lieutenant Governor Philip Hart, Michigan State University athletic director Biggie Munn, presid ...

in 1968. In September 1972, Kipke died at a hospital in

Port Huron, Michigan Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administered separately. Located along the St. Clair ...

, where he had lived for several years. Two days after he died, the crowd at

Michigan Stadium Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "The Big House," is the football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the largest stadium in the United States and the Western Hemisphere, the third largest stadium in the world, and the ...

stood in a moment of silence during halftime in honor of Kipke. Students, alumni, and fans can continue to remember Kipke's impact and achievements at Michigan as they walk past Kipke Drive, named after him, just outside Michigan Stadium ("The Big House").

Head coaching record

References

External links

Profile at Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Athletics History
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kipke, Harry 1899 births 1972 deaths American football drop kickers American football halfbacks American men's basketball players Forwards (basketball) Guards (basketball) Michigan State Spartans football coaches Michigan Wolverines baseball players Michigan Wolverines football coaches Michigan Wolverines football players Michigan Wolverines men's basketball players Missouri Tigers baseball coaches Missouri Tigers football coaches Regents of the University of Michigan All-American college football players All-American college men's basketball players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Lansing, Michigan Coaches of American football from Michigan Players of American football from Michigan Baseball coaches from Michigan Baseball players from Michigan Basketball players from Michigan 20th-century American academics