Russell Dwight Oliver (July 20, 1910 – December 19, 1974) was an American athlete and coach who played and coached

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 ...

, baseball, and basketball. He played

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 ...

, baseball, and basketball 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 ...

and coached those sports at Culver Military Academy from 1935 to 1968, with a four-year interruption for military service during

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 ...

Early years

Oliver was born in

Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 61,606. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Pontiac is about northwest of Detroit. Founde ...

, and graduated from Pontiac High School in 1929. He was coached in football at Pontiac by Charles Weldon, who had been the high school football coach to Red Grange. In 1927, Weldon proclaimed the 16-year-old Oliver to be the "second Red Grange." He enrolled at the Culver Military Academy in

Culver, Indiana Culver is a town in Marshall County, Indiana, United States. Culver is part of Union Township, which also includes the communities of Burr Oak, Hibbard, Maxinkuckee and Rutland. The population of Culver was 1,129 at the 2020 United States Censu ...

, where he played football, basketball, and baseball, competed in varsity shell crew, and was the academy's heavyweight boxing champion. He was voted by his fellow cadets as the "Best All-Around Athlete."

University of Michigan

Oliver next enrolled at the

. He was a fullback on Michigan's undefeated national championship teams of

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

and

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

. He also played at quarterback in 1934. As a sophomore in 1932, he began the season as the Wolverines' starting fullback, but he sustained a fractured rib in late October 1932. The injury did not appear serious at first, but the rib snapped while Oliver was punting during practice on October 26, 1932. He was a teammate of

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 ...

on Michigan's football teams from 1932 to 1934. While at Michigan, he was also the captain of the baseball team and was the fourth student at Michigan to win nine varsity letters in three major sports. ( Bennie Oosterbaan and

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 ...

also won nine letters in football, baseball, and basketball.) Oliver was also the freshman golf champion at Michigan.

Culver Military Academy

After graduating from Michigan in 1935, he returned to the Culver Military Academy where he worked for nearly 40 years. He was the head coach of the school's teams in football (1935–1941, 1946–1968), baseball (1935–1941, 1946–1961), and basketball (1935–1941, 1946–1961). He was a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

, serving with the Second Engineer Amphibious Brigade in the Pacific Theater of Operations from July 1942 to 1946. After retiring as a head coach in 1968, he continued to serve as the academy's director of alumni affairs. Oliver compiled a career record of 152–90–13 as the head football coach at Culver Military Academy. His record as the academy's coach in other sports was 211–137 in basketball and 105–76 in baseball. In 1994, he was posthumously inducted into the Culver Military Academy Athletic Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class. The academy's football field is named Oliver Field in tribute to Oliver.

Death and legacy

He died of cancer at South Bend Memorial Hospital in December 1974. He was posthumously inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in August 1985.

Personal life

Oliver married Myra E. (Powrie) Oliver in 1937. She died in December 2009. They had two sons, Bruce I. Oliver and Russell D. Oliver, II

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Russell D. 1910 births 1974 deaths American football fullbacks American men's basketball players Michigan Wolverines baseball players Michigan Wolverines football players Michigan Wolverines men's basketball players High school baseball coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in Indiana High school football coaches in Indiana United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War II Sportspeople from Pontiac, Michigan Coaches of American football from Michigan Players of American football from Michigan Baseball coaches from Michigan Baseball players from Michigan Basketball coaches from Michigan Basketball players from Michigan Military personnel from Michigan