Walter Scott "Mike" Milligan (May 27, 1904 – January 1, 1979) 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 of football and

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 ...

. He served as the head football coach at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

from 1947 to 1949 and for one season as the head basketball coach at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin to ...

(1942–43).

Playing days

Milligan played high school football at Aliquippa High School and Kiski School. While at college at the University of Pittsburgh, Milligan played

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

from 1929 to 1931 under the school's legendary coach

Jock Sutherland John Bain Sutherland (March 21, 1889 – April 11, 1948) was an American football player and coach. He coached college football at Lafayette College (1919–1923) and the University of Pittsburgh (1924–1938) and professional football for the ...

. The lightest of Pitt guards in 1930, and listed at a height of 5 feet, 10 inches and weighing 168 pounds, Milligan broke into the lineup at left guard when Hart Morris was injured in an October 11 game at

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. The teams on which Milligan played while at Pitt were regional powers and nationally regarded. The 1929 Pitt team went undefeated in the regular season and won the Eastern Championship and appeared in the Rose Bowl losing to

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

. The loss did not prevent football historian Parke H. Davis from naming Pitt as that season's national champion. The following season, Milligan's first as a regular starter, saw the Panthers go 6–2–1. This was followed by an 8–1 finish in 1931 in which the Panthers recorded six shutouts, including a 40–0 dismantling of

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. That season also saw Pitt defeat

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

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, using only one first-string player, by a score of 41–6 en route to winning the Eastern Championship. These accomplishments would prompt Parke Davis to again name the Panthers national champions. During his summers in college, Milligan worked as a desk sergeant with the Aliquippa Police Department.

Coaching career

As a coach, Milligan held several assistant football coaching positions during his career, in which he typically specialized in coaching the

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. He had his only tenure as a head football coach for three seasons at his alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh. Milligan served one season as the head coach for the basketball team at Tulsa, where he also served as a football assistant.

Early years

Milligan became an assistant coach at Pitt under head coach Jock Sutherland in 1934. He remained a coach at the university, where he served as the coach of the football program's freshman squad, until he quit shortly after the resignation of Sutherland in 1938. From there Milligan took an assistant coaching position at

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which was followed by an assistant position at

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

where he served as the offensive line coach.

Tulsa basketball head coach

While at Tulsa, Milligan took over head

coaching duties from

Tex Ryon Tex may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tex (nickname), a list of people and fictional characters with the nickname * Joe Tex (1933–1982), stage name of American soul singer Joseph Arrington Jr. Entertainment * ''Tex'', the Italian ...

who left in 1942 after his second stint coaching the team. Milligan was winless in his basketball coaching tenure at Tulsa, where he went 0–10 during the 1942-43 season. Milligan was replaced as the Tulsa's basketball coach the following year by

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Pitt football head coach

Milligan returned to his alma mater in 1946 as a top assistant for Pitt under head coach

Wes Fesler Wesley Eugene Fesler (June 29, 1908 – July 30, 1989) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach of football and basketball. He was a three-sport athlete at Ohio State University and a consensus first-team selection to ...

, who left after his only season at Pitt to coach his alma mater

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 ...

. Fesler's departure opened the door for Milligan's promotion to the head coaching position. Milligan's head coaching tenure at Pitt was underscored by one of the most satisfying wins in Pitt history when the Panthers defeated the Fesler-coached Ohio State team 12–0 for their only win of the 1947 season. Milligan brought Pitt back to winning records in 1948 and 1949, achieving consecutive 6–3 seasons that included appearances in the national rankings and back-to-back shutouts of

, the first of which snapped Penn State's 17-game unbeaten streak. After Pitt, a twenty-point underdog, defeated defending Rose Bowl champion Northwestern on the road on October 1, 1949, Milligan was named the

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"Coach of the Week". At the end of the 1949 season, he was also nominated for the

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"Coach of the Year" award. However, Milligan resigned on January 27, 1950, due to a perceived snub by the university offering him only a one-year contract, and he never returned to a head coaching position.

Later years

Following his stint as the Pitt head coach, Milligan took a series of assistant football coaching positions and was a highly regarded as a line coach. He spent a year as an assistant at

in 1950, was an assistant at

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

from 1951 to 1952, and then moved to an assistant position at

beginning from 1953 to 1955.

Death

Milligan died on January 1, 1979, at a hospital 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 ...

Head coaching record

Football

Men's basketball

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Milligan, Mike 1904 births 1979 deaths American football guards Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Florida Gators football coaches Nebraska Cornhuskers football coaches Sportspeople from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football players Players of American football from Pennsylvania Purdue Boilermakers football coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane football coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball coaches USC Trojans football coaches