Mitchell J. "Mike" Gary (April 17, 1900 – December 30, 1969) was an American

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 ...

player and coach and athletics administrator. He was an All-Big Ten

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player for the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...

in 1926 and 1927 and served in various coaching, teaching and administrative positions at

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

from 1928 through 1967. With a record of 59–34–5 (.628 winning percentage), Gary ranks third in wins among Western Michigan football coaches, behind

William H. Spaulding William H. Spaulding (May 4, 1880 – October 12, 1966) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. Spaulding coached at UCLA from 1925 to 1938. He had a successful tenure, compiling a 72–51–8 () record. H ...

and

Al Molde Al Molde (born November 15, 1943) is a former American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at University of Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls College (1971–1972), the University of Minnesota Morris ( ...

Minnesota

Gary played

for the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

from 1925 to 1927 and was selected as a first-team All-

Big Ten 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 ...

tackle in 1926 and 1927.

Western Michigan

Coach

Gary was hired as an assistant football coach at Western State Teachers College (now known as

) in 1928. He worked under head coach Earl Martineau during the 1928 season and took over as head coach in 1929. He served as the head football coach at Western Michigan from 1929 to 1941. In 13 years as the head football coach, Gary's teams compiled a record of 59–34–5 (.627 winning percentage) and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 1,426 to 683. He twice coached undefeated football teams. His 1932 team compiled a record of 6–0–1 and outscored opponents 174 to 6. That team gave up six points in the first game of the season and held its opponents scoreless in the remaining six games. In his last season as head coach, the 1941 team compiled a perfect record of 8–0 and outscored opponents 183 to 27. At the end of the 1941 season, the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

wrote the following about Gary's 1941 team:

"Largest of the small undefeated, untied outfits is Western Michigan College where 2,200 students (but only 700 men) all but went crazy as their heroes tripped Western Reserve, Sun Bowl champion, 7–0 in the opener and went on to win seven more. Coach Mitchell J. Gary, who played with Bronko Nagurski at Minnesota, took over as head coach at Western in 1929. He used the T-formation to shake loose Horace Coleman, colored halfback, for 10 touchdowns in seven games."

War service

With the United States entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the 41-year-old Gary 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 served three years in the Naval Air Corps with the rank of commander.

Athletic director

After the war, Gary returned to Western Michigan as the associate athletic director and professor of physical education. In 1949, he took over as athletic director and held that position until his retirement in 1967. He was also the chairman of the school's Department of Physical Education, Health and Recreation from 1952 to 1957. During Gary's tenure as athletic director, Western Michigan joined 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 ...

Death and posthumous honors

Gary died from a heart attack at his home in

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

in December 1969. In 1978, he was inducted into the Western Michigan University Hall of Fame. The Gary Physical Education Center on the Western Michigan campus is named in his honor. The Mike Gary Athletic Fund was established in 1956. It is a community-based support program dedicated to improving the athletic program at Western Michigan.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gary, Mike 1900 births 1969 deaths American football tackles Minnesota Golden Gophers football players Western Michigan Broncos athletic directors Western Michigan Broncos football coaches United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy officers