Alan J. Bovard (September 24, 1906 – July 11, 1983) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player and coach. He was an All-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

center at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1929. He later served as the athletic director at

Michigan Technological University Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Uppe ...

from 1947 to 1972 and the head football coach from 1947 to 1956.

Athlete

Bovard was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, and grew up in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

. He enrolled at the

in 1926 and played at the center position for the

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the List of NCAA football teams by wins, most all-time wins in college football ...

teams from 1926 to 1929. As a senior in 1929, he was selected as an All-

player.

High school coach

Bovard graduated from Michigan in 1930 and served as an assistant football coach under Harry Kipke for the 1930 Michigan Wolverines football team. He was employed as a high school football and basketball coach from 1931 to 1947. He coached Lansing's J. W. Sexton High School basketball team to Michigan's Class A championship in the 1944–45 season and also coached the school's football team to the state Class A championship in 1946.

Michigan Tech

In January 1947, Bovard was hired as the athletic director, head football coach and head of the physical education department at

. He served as the football coach from 1947 to 1956. In 1948, Bovard led the Michigan Tech Huskies football team to its first undefeated season, finishing the season with a 7–0 record and outscoring opponents 209 to 58. He served as athletic director for 25 years and expanded Michigan Tech's athletic program into eleven varsity and seventeen intramural programs. Bovard also served as the school's head basketball coach for two years, compiling a record of 19 wins and 14 losses. In October 1972, Bovard announced his retirement from Michigan Tech, effective December 31, 1972.

Death and Hall of Fame inductions

In July 1983, Bovard died in

Marquette, Michigan Marquette ( ) is the county seat of Marquette County, Michigan, Marquette County and the largest city in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. Located on the shores of Lake Superior, Marquette is a major port known primarily for shippin ...

, where he had been hospitalized for several weeks. Bovard was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Hall of Fame in 1976 and the Michigan Tech Hall of Fame in 1985.

Head coaching record

College football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bovard, Alan 1906 births 1983 deaths American football centers Michigan Tech Huskies athletic directors Michigan Tech Huskies football coaches Michigan Tech Huskies men's basketball coaches Michigan Wolverines football coaches Michigan Wolverines football players High school basketball coaches in Michigan High school football coaches in Michigan People from Houghton, Michigan Players of American football from Houghton County, Michigan Sportspeople from Ithaca, New York Coaches of American football from New York (state) Players of American football from New York (state) Basketball coaches from New York (state)