In 1922,Blott succeeded All-American and College Football Hall of Famer Ernie Vick as Michigan’s center. Reporters drew similarities between the two:"In the first place,they are of very similar build and Blott now weighs within two pounds of Vick’s playing weight. Both Vick and Blott played fullback in high school and came to Michigan without any experience in the line. Both learned to pass from center,a duty the importance of which very few spectators ever realize,with remarkable ease and within a short time both were unusually accurate." [1]
The 1922 team,led by All-American Harry Kipke,went 6–0–1 and finished in a tie with Iowa for the Big Ten Conference championship. The only blemish was a scoreless tie with Vanderbilt in the second game of the season. The Michigan defense gave up only 13 points during the entire season,outscoring opponents,183–13. [2]
The 1923 Michigan team went 8–0 and outscored opponents 150–12. The Big Ten Conference ended up with two undefeated teams in Illinois and Michigan,and though the two teams did not play in 1923,Illinois was widely viewed as the National Champion in 1923. However,the Billingsley service ranked Michigan as the National Champions. [3]
One writer noted that the 1923 Michigan team lacked brawn,with the exception of Blott who was the “one man of ideal physical properties.”That writer also noted:“Blott,big and powerful,also has intellect.” [4] At the start of the 1923 season,Michigan's Coach Fielding H. Yost tried playing Blott at fullback,but quickly moved him back to center,with additional responsibility for kicking field goals. [5]
After an easy opening win against Case Institute of Technology (36–0),the Wolverines faced the Vanderbilt Commodores on October 13,1923. The Commodores had held the Wolverines to a scoreless tie in 1922 and nearly did so again in 1923. The Wolverines won,3–0,and Blott’s field goal from the 15-yard line was the only scoring. [6]
After the Vanderbilt game,Michigan went on to convincing wins over Ohio State (23–0) and Michigan Agricultural College (37–0).
In the Iowa game on November 3,1923,Blott scored Michigan’s only touchdown in a close 9-3 win over the 1922 Big Ten champions. Blott’s score was described as “a very fluky touchdown,earned through the Blott’s quick thinking." One writer wrote:“When Jack Blott,Michigan’s star center,fell on a loose ball,in back of the goal line in the recent Michigan-Iowa game,he performed a feat which is rarely accomplished on the gridiron. Not only did it win the contest for the Wolverines,but it marked one of the few times wherein a center is credited with having scored a touchdown. ... Blott’s performance was all the more unique [sic] in that he passed the ball for Kipke’s attempted drop kick and then raced down the field ahead of any of the other players in time to drop on the leather as it bounded across the final chalk mark after having grazed an Iowa uniform.” [7]
Years later,Harry Kipke recalled the play this way:"Why was it a touchdown? Because,as the ball sailed over the scrimmage line one of the Iowa players touched it. ... Few spectators and not many of the players noticed it. But Blott did,and at least one official noticed it. That official promptly made his ruling and we had six very important points." [8]
However,in the second to last game of the season,an away game against Wisconsin,Blott “was carried from the field with a broken ankle.” [9] As a result,Blott was unable to play in the team's final game against Minnesota.
Blott was the only All-American selected from the 1923 team and the fourth Michigan center to be named All-American. [10] On his selection of Blott,Walter Camp wrote:“The middle of the line position goes to Blott of Michigan,whose passing this year has been the height of perfection.” [11]
One reporter wrote that Blott was in a class by himself at the center position and “an expert at placement goals,an almost sure thing from any angle or distance.” [12] Another wrote that Blott “will go down into football history as one of the greatest centers ever produced at Michigan.” [13] Despite having to replace All-American Ernie Vick,Blott’s play in 1922 and 1923 was “so good that Vick,despite his greatness,hasn’t even been missed.” [13]
Blott also starred as the catcher for the Michigan baseball teams from 1922 to 1924. In June 1923,Blott was selected to be the captain of the baseball team for the 1924 season. [14] [15]
In a game against Iowa in 1924,Blott drove in three runs with a bases-loaded hit to right field,adding to his unpopularity in Iowa after his recovery of a loose ball in the end zone against Iowa in football the previous fall. [16] On April 21,1924,the last game of a road trip through the South,Blott hit two home runs in a game marked by intermittent snow flurries. The Wolverines beat the University of Cincinnati,9-8,on the strength of Blott’s home runs. “The heavy hitting of Jack Blott who raised two in the stands for home runs was largely responsible for Michigan’s runs.” [17]
At the end of his three years of college baseball,he was "considered by many to be the best back-stopper in the Big Ten Conference." [18] In the spring of 1924,three major league teams made offers to Blott:the New York Yankees,the Cleveland Indians,and the St. Louis Cardinals. [16] Miami University also tried to sign him as its football coach. [16] [19]
Blott received his degree from Michigan’s "literary school" on June 16,1924,and immediately signed with the Cincinnati Reds. [18] He chose the Reds after turning down a contract offered by former Michigan coach Branch Rickey,manager of the Cardinals. [20] [21] Blott reported to the Reds at the end of June 1924 “to become the understudy”of the Reds’longtime catchers Bubbles Hargrave and Ivey Wingo. [20]
Blott appeared in his first major league game on July 30,1924 — just six weeks after graduation. In all,Blott appeared in only two games,the second on September 3,1924. [22] He had only one plate appearance and failed to get on base,for a career .000 batting average. On the other hand,he made one putout and no errors for a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. The Reds finished the 1924 season in fourth place with an 84–69 record.
At the end of the season,Blott’s status was uncertain. While he had been “a great thrower in college,”Blott broke his shoulder blade in football and was still suffering from the injury when he reported to the Reds. [23] Yet,at the end of the season,Reds’manager Jack Hendricks was confident that Blott had entirely recovered and “is throwing as well as ever.” [23]
Blott’s prospects to win a regular spot with the Reds appeared slim. One newspaper account summed it up:“Jack Blott will,as last summer,be the catching understudy with small chance of seeing much action behind the bat where Bubbles Hargrave and Ivey Wingo will hold forth.” [24]
In an interview with syndicated columnist Billy Evans after the 1924 season,Blott asked the question:“Is it worth while for a college player to consider the professional game?”Blott frankly noted,“I’m not so sure that I am to be a star.” [25] Evans wrote that there were many “ifs”to such a question,including love of the game and other business prospects. However,Evans noted that Blott was left with a decision as to whether to return to the Reds in 1925,realizing he would likely be “sitting on the bench as a substitute possessing just enough ability to fill in when one of the regulars was out of the lineup.” [25] Evans opined that it was a “waste of time”for a collegian to play such a role. [25] Evans later revealed that Blott had confided in him that he liked football best and would prefer to coach a grid team than play baseball. [26]
In February 1925,Blott announced that he was giving up professional baseball and would not be reporting to spring training with the Reds. Instead,Fielding H. Yost announced that Blott would remain an assistant coach and teach in the four-year coaching course at Michigan. [27] After Blott made his announcement,Billy Evans wrote in his column:“Baseball has lost another promising player. He is Jack Blott ... Blott has decided to forsake the diamond pastime to become assistant line coach at Michigan. ... While at the Ann Arbor institution Blott was a star of the first magnitude in both football and baseball. ... On the diamond,Blott also ranked high as a backstop. ... And though adorning the bench most of the time,was to have been taken down south for spring training this month. Blott,however,evidently prefers football coaching to the rather uncertainty of making good in the big leagues. ... And according to Blott,wanted to be a major leaguer or nothing. As a gridiron tutor,Blott should go big.” [28]
In mid-March,the Reds announced they were “still plenty sore”about the course of action taken by Blott and noted that he had not returned the bonus given him when he signed. [29] Two years earlier,the Reds had lost the services of Ray Fisher who left the team to become Michigan's baseball coach.
Blott initially signed with Michigan on September 24,1924,as an assistant football coach responsible for line candidates,concentrating on the center and guard positions. [30] He served as a line coach at Michigan from 1924 through 1933,including the Wolverines' National Championship teams of 1932 and 1933. He was the line coach during the freshman,sophomore,and junior years of Michigan's most famous center,U.S. President Gerald R. Ford.
In January 1934,rumors spread that Michigan assistants,Bennie Oosterbaan and Jack Blott,had interviewed for positions at Yale and other eastern schools. Yost expressed the hope that “his boys”would stay at Michigan, [31] [32] and confidence that “when all the shouting’s over Bennie Oosterbaan and Jack Blott will both be right here.” [33] However,in February 1934,Blott accepted the head coaching job at Wesleyan University in Middletown,Connecticut. [34] [35] Blott was the head football coach at Wesleyan from 1934 to 1940. Blott also coached baseball at Wesleyan. During his seven years as head football coach,Wesleyan’s record was:
In 1938,following the resignation of Harry Kipke as Michigan's head football coach,there were press reports that Blott was being considered (and was Yost’s pick) for the head coaching job at Michigan,but the job went to Fritz Crisler from Princeton. [37] [38]
At the end of the 1940 season,Blott announced he was retiring as head coach at Wesleyan to take a post with the Ford Motor Company in Detroit. [39] Blott worked in Ford’s personnel department for six years from 1940 until 1945. [40] In that capacity,he represented Ford in collective bargaining negotiations with the United Auto Workers. [41]
In February 1946,Blott was hired as Michigan’s line coach,this time working under Coach Fritz Crisler. He replaced Biggie Munn,who accepted the head coaching job at Syracuse. [40] He was the line coach for the undefeated 1947 and 1948 National Championship teams.
One Blott story that was picked up by the wire services in 1949 told of a husky Michigan lineman limping to the sideline,to be asked by Blott,“What’s the matter son? Legs bothering you?”When the player replied,“Yeah,the muscles are all sore along the back here,”Blott responded:“That’s strange,I was watching you. You couldn’t have got it from charging too fast;it must be from getting up so many times after that little guard knocked you down.” [42]
In his career as a player and coach at Michigan,Blott played on one National Championship team (1923) and was the line coach on four others (1932–1933 and 1947–1948). As a coach,he helped develop some of the school's all-time great linemen,including Chuck Bernard,Gerald R. Ford,Otto Pommerening,Alvin Wistert,and Robert "Brick" Wahl.
In December 1958,Michigan replaced head coach Bennie Oosterbaan with Bump Elliott and also replaced Blott as line coach. It was announced at the time that Blott would be kept on as “overseer of Michigan’s intramural program.” [43]
After 1958,Blott managed the U-M golf course and ice rink. [44] In June 1964,Blott died of a heart attack while mowing the lawn of his Ann Arbor home. [44] He was survived by his widow,Helen,and his daughter,Joanne. [44]
In 1987,Blott was posthumously inducted into the University of Michigan Hall of Honor for baseball,football and coaching. [45]
As a student the University of Michigan,Blott became a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. [46]
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Fielding Harris Yost was an American college football player, coach and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at: Ohio Wesleyan University, the University of Nebraska, the University of Kansas, Stanford University, San Jose State University, and the University of Michigan, compiling a coaching career record of 198–35–12. During his 25 seasons as the head football coach at Ann Arbor, Yost's Michigan Wolverines won six national championships, captured ten Big Ten Conference titles, and amassed a record of 165–29–10.
Harry George Kipke 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, compiling a career record of 49–30–5. During his nine-year tenure as head coach at Michigan, Kipke's teams compiled a 46–26–4 record, won four conference titles, and captured two national championships in 1932 and 1933. He is one of only three coaches, along with Fielding H. Yost and Bo Schembechler, in Michigan football history to direct teams to four consecutive conference championships. Kipke was also the head baseball coach at the University of Missouri for one season 1925 while he was an assistant football coach at the school. He was inducted into of the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1958.
Henry Arthur "Ernie" Vick was an American football and baseball player. He was selected as an All-American center in 1921, played on the 1926 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, and was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983.
The 1923 Michigan football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan during the 1923 Big Ten Conference football season. In their 23rd year under head coach Fielding H. Yost, Michigan compiled an undefeated 8–0 record, tied for the Big Ten Conference football championship, and outscored its opponents by a combined total of 150 to 12. The season was part of a 20-game undefeated streak for Michigan that began on October 29, 1921, and continued until October 18, 1924. During the combined 1922 and 1923 seasons, Yost's teams compiled a 14–0–1 record.
The 1922 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1922 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first year under head coach William H. Spaulding, the Golden Gophers compiled a 3–3–1 record and outscored their opponents by a combined score of 79 to 65.
The 1923 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1923 Big Ten Conference football season. In their second year under head coach William H. Spaulding, the Golden Gophers compiled a 5–1–1 record and outscored their opponents by a combined score of 114 to 60. It was Minnesota's final season playing on Northrop Field.
Angus Gerald "Gus" Goetz was an American football player who played four years with the Michigan Wolverines from 1917 to 1920. He also played professional football for the Buffalo All-Americans (1922) and the Columbus Tigers (1923).
Irwin Charles "Utz" Uteritz was an American athlete and coach. He played American football and baseball for the University of Michigan from 1921 to 1923. At 140 pounds, he was one of the lightest quarterbacks ever to start for a major college program. Despite his size, Michigan football coach Fielding H. Yost called him "the best field general I ever had." Uteritz led Michigan to back-to-back undefeated seasons and a national championship in 1923. He also played three years of baseball for Michigan at second base and shortstop, hit above .300 and was elected as captain of the 1923 baseball team. Uteritz later served as a football and baseball coach at Northwestern University (1924–1925), the University of Wisconsin (1925–1935), the University of California (1935–1947), and Washington University in St. Louis (1947–1963).
The 1922 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1922 Big Ten Conference football season. In Fielding H. Yost's 22nd season as head coach, Michigan compiled a record of 6–0–1, outscored opponents 183–13, and tied with Iowa for the Big Ten championship. On defense, the team did not allow its opponents to score a point in the first five games of the season, and its scoring defense of 1.85 points per game is among the lowest in Michigan football history.
The 1925 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1925 Big Ten Conference football season. The 1925 season was Fielding H. Yost's 24th as the head football coach. Michigan compiled a 7–1 record and outscored opponents by a combined score of 227 to 3. The 1925 team won the Big Ten Conference championship and was ranked second in country behind Dartmouth in the Dickinson System rankings.
The 1928 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the 1928 Big Ten Conference football season. The Wolverines compiled a 3–4–1 record, tied for seventh place in the Big Ten, and were outscored by their opponents by a total of 62 to 36.
The 1927 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1927 Big Ten Conference football season. The 1927 season was Michigan's first in its new stadium, Michigan Stadium. It was also the first under new head coach Tad Wieman following the retirement of Fielding H. Yost as head coach. Michigan shut out its first four opponents before losing to 1927 Big Ten Conference champion Illinois and later to Big Ten runner up Minnesota. Michigan compiled a record of 6–2 and outscored its opponents by a combined score of 137 to 39. The team was ranked No. 7 in the nation in the Dickinson System ratings released in December 1927.
The 1921 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1921 Big Ten Conference football season. In his 21st year as head coach, Fielding H. Yost led Michigan to a 5–1–1 record, as the Wolverines outscored their opponents with a combined score of 187 to 21. Michigan recorded shutouts in five of its seven games, allowing only 14 points in a loss to Ohio State and 7 points in a tie with Wisconsin. Over the course of five home games at the newly expanded Ferry Field, the Wolverines attracted crowds totaling 143,500 with receipts totaling $170,000.
Herbert F. Steger was an American football player, coach and official. He played for the University of Michigan from 1922 to 1924. Steger later served as an assistant football coach at Northwestern University from 1925 to 1931 and a Big Ten Conference football official from 1931 to 1953.
Louis Matthew Gilbert was an American football player. He played at the halfback position for the Michigan Wolverines football teams from 1925 to 1927. He was selected as a first-team All-Big Ten Conference player in 1927 and was selected by Fielding H. Yost in 1941 as the greatest punter of all time.
The History of Michigan Wolverines football in the Yost era covers the period from the hiring of Fielding H. Yost as head coach in 1901 through Yost's firing of Tad Wieman as head coach after the 1928 season. The era includes the brief head coaching tenures of George Little and Tad Wieman. Wieman was head coach during the 1927 and 1928 seasons but contended that he had never truly been allowed to take control of the team with Yost remaining as an assistant coach and athletic director.
The history of Michigan Wolverines football in the Kipke years covers the history of the University of Michigan Wolverines football program during the period from the hiring of Harry Kipke as head coach in 1929 through his firing after the 1937 season. Michigan was a member of the Big Ten Conference during the Kipke years and played its home games at Michigan Stadium.
The 1922 Michigan vs. Vanderbilt football game, played October 14, 1922, was a college football game between the Michigan Wolverines and Vanderbilt Commodores. The game ended as a scoreless tie. It was the inaugural game at Dudley Field, the first dedicated football stadium in the South.
The 1923 Big Ten Conference football season was the 28th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1923 college football season.