Position: Coach
School: Tampa, Iowa State, Ohio State, Northern Iowa, Colorado State
Years: 1972-1992
Inducted: 2002
Place of Birth: Pittsburgh, Pa
Date of Birth: 3/8/1931

When an injury ended Earle Bruce's playing career at Ohio State, coach Woody Hayes urged Bruce to become a coach. Starting in the high school ranks, Bruce was an assistant before becoming a head coach, posting an 82-12-3 record in ten seasons and earning Ohio High School Coach of the Year honors three times. Earle's first collegiate job was at Tampa, where in one season he had a 10-2 record and a Tangerine Bowl win. He then went to Iowa State, where he turned around a perpetually losing program into a winner and bowl invitee. In 1979, Bruce went to Ohio State, succeeding his friend Woody Hayes. In his first year he posted an undefeated regular season, a Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl. Bruce was named National Coach of the Year by both the Football Writers and Coaches Associations. In his nine seasons at OSU, Bruce won or shared four Big Ten championships, took the Buckeyes to eight bowl games, finished in the top 20 eight times and posted an 81-26-1 record. From there, he spent one season at Northern Iowa before closing his career at Colorado State, where he took the Rams to their first bowl game in 42 years. Overall Bruce had a 154-90-2 record, took four different schools to bowl games where he had a 12-5 record, had ten seasons where his teams won nine or more games, and had nine top 20 teams.