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The Mid-American Conference: "The Cradle of Coaches"

• Bo Schembechler
• Woody Hayes
• Ara Parseghian
• Urban Meyer

These are a few of the names that can be associated with the Mid-American Conference's "Cradle of Coaches." While dominated by Miami University, the MAC has been home to many great coaches and many others with the potential to be great as well. While former Bowling Green head coach Urban Meyer gets his start at Florida this season along with former Miami head coach Terry Hoeppner at Indiana, the MAC continues to have a large presence across the college football coaching ranks.

Woody Hayes |Ara Parseghian |Bo Schembechler |Randy Walker

Jim Grobe |Urban Meyer |Terry Hoeppner |Other MAC Coaches

Wayne "Woody" Hayes

Miami University, 1949-1950

Woody Hayes, a legend in the state of Ohio, spent two years at Miami and led his team to a 14-5 record before spending the final 28 years of his coaching career at Ohio State. The rivalry between Hayes and Bo Schembechler, another former Miami University Head Coach, is legend in the Midwestern United States. Hayes won 3 National Championships and 13 Big Ten titles while leading Ohio State to 11 Rose Bowls.

1949-1950 @ Miami University - 14-5, .737

Career - 30 years - 219-66-10

Ara Parseghian

Miami University, 1951-1955

After two years with the Cleveland Browns before ending his playing career due to injury, Parseghian became an assistant coach under Woody Hayes at Miami in 1950. In 1951 he became head coach at Miami and remained in Oxford until leaving for Northwestern. Parseghian coached at Northwestern through 1963 before taking the head position ot Notre Dame where he won two consensus national championships. He was voted into the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame in 1980.

1951-1955 @ Miami University - 39-6-1, .859

Career - 24 years - 170-58-6, .739

Urban Meyer

Bowling Green, 2001-2002

After working as an assistant at Notre Dame for five years, Meyer took over as Head Coach at Bowling Green in 2001. Meyer led BG to an 8-3 record in 2001 and 9-3 record in 2002 before leaving for Utah where he spent two years going 22-2. After the 2004 season Meyer took the Head Coach position at Florida.

2001-2002 @ Bowling Green - 17-6, .739

Career (Active) - 4 years - 39-8, .830

Randy Walker

Miami University, 1990-1998

Randy Walker left Miami University after the 1998 season as the all-time winningest coach in school history with a record 59 wins. Walker left Miami after the 1998 season to take on the head coaching job at Northwestern where he is the 1st coach since 1946 to lead Northwestern to three 6+ win seasons and is the 1st NU coach to record victories over all other Big Ten schools.

1990-1998 @ Miami - 59-35-5, .621

Career - 15 years - 89-76-5, .538

Terry Hoeppner

Miami University, 1999-2004

During his six years as the Miami head coach, Terry Hoeppner led the RedHawks to back-to-back MAC Eastern Division titles and bowl game appearances for the fuirst time in 30 years. Hoeppner left Miami after the 2004 season for Indiana where he follows two former Miami head coaches who also coached at Indiana. Both John Pont and Bill Mallory also spent time coaching at both schools.

1999-2004 @ Miami - 48-25, .658

Career (Active) - 6 years - 49-25, .658

Others

The list of head coaches below all have ties to the Mid-American Conference.

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