Indiana Football Coaches, The First Year: Hoosiers Raid Notre Dame For Hot Name Bernie Crimmins

This is the second in a series of how Indiana football coaches fared in their first season in Bloomington.

Bernie Crimmins gives instructions during a game at old Memorial Stadium during the 1952 season. / Indiana University Arbutus

When a school hires a new football coach, one of the following four templates is usually followed:

- Hire a trusted assistant from the previous staff.

- Hire a rising assistant or head coach from a school down the college football pecking order from your own school.

- Hire a former head coach on his second or third chance.

- Hire an assistant coach from one of the top programs in the country.

When Indiana’s football job came open after the resignation of Clyde Smith during the 1951 season? The Hoosiers ultimately went with the last option.

Enter Bernie Crimmins.

WHY CHANGE?

Smith never turned around Indiana. After his 2-7 first season, the Hoosiers regressed to 1-8 in 1949 and would not win more than three games in a season during Smith’s tenure. There were highlights, such as a 20-7 home win over Notre Dame in 1950 and a one-week stay in the top 20 that came from it, but they were fleeting.

By 1951, Smith’s seat was warm. His soft-spoken nature worked against him as did the losses.

Indiana fans were restless. It’s easy to forget that the program was less than a half-decade removed from relatively consistent winning under McMillin, including a conference title in 1945.

According to an Associated Press story from Nov. 7, 1951, questionnaires appeared on Indiana’s campus asking, “Do you think inferior coaching is at fault?”

Other alumni went on-the-record.

“We feel that Clyde Smith’s record has shown that he can’t give us the coaching we’re entitled to,” said Frank Lindsey, a Chicago-based alumnus in the same AP story.

On Nov. 6, 1951, Smith resigned as Indiana’s coach effective at the end of the season with three games left and two years left on his contract.

Smith said he would like to “be happy for the next three weeks and be able to coach the boys like they deserve to be coached.”

Smith finished his Indiana tenure with an 8-27-1 record. At the time of his departure, his .236 winning percentage was the worst in school history.

Indiana wanted to start fresh and make a splash.

Bernie Crimmins was introduced as Indiana's football coach on Jan. 12, 1952. / Indiana University Arbutus

ENTER CRIMMINS

No college football program commanded more respect nationally in the early 1950s than Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish had won three national championships since the end of World War II in 1945. Frank Leahy, Notre Dame’s head coach at the time, was and is considered one of the best college football coaches of all-time.

His most prominent assistant? Crimmins.

Crimmins, Notre Dame’s backfield coach, was himself well-known. He was a second-team All-American for the Fighting Irish in 1941, and he had served in the Navy as a PT boat commander in World War II and been awarded a Silver Star. Crimmins then played for the Green Bay Packers for one season.

Crimmins was a red-hot name. Reports in 1951 suggested he was headed to Pittsburgh to take over as head coach, or that he could take over for Leahy at Notre Dame some day.

However, Indiana worked its way into the mix with the Louisville native, and he was announced as head coach on Jan. 12, 1952. At 32, he was the second-youngest head coach in the nation.

Paid $12,000 per year on a five-year deal, Crimmins made it plain that the Notre Dame way would be imported to Bloomington.

“I want to instill a feeling into my players that they’re as good as anybody – and can beat anybody. And I want to teach them to do our way of thumping,” said Crimmins in his introductory press conference. The “our” referring to Notre Dame and the “thumping” referring to blocking.

Activities during the 1952 Homecoming Game at old Memorial Stadium. / Indiana University Arbutus

YEAR ONE

The optimism of January gave way to the reality of September as the Hoosiers’ season ramped up. Indiana lost 11 lettermen from the 1951 season and had six more players hurt entering the 1952 season.

Crimmins didn’t exactly proffer a vote of confidence.

“Awfully green. Inexperienced. Very weak. No overall speed. Wish we could win a couple of games. But that’s wishful thinking,” said Crimmins in a Sept. 21, 1952, story in the Indianapolis Star.

At a preseason Kiwanis event, Crimmins joked that he wrote to opponents asking to play five or six-man football.

Indiana opened with eventual third-place finisher Ohio State in the opener in Columbus on Sept. 27. The Hoosiers hung and were tied at 13 entering the fourth quarter before the Buckeyes pulled away for a 33-13 victory,

The home opener against Iowa a week later produced a happier outcome. Halfback Jerry Ellis scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, making a 67-yard touchdown catch by Les Kun with seven seconds left in the first half really pay off as Indiana prevailed, 20-13.

Indiana's Ed Roth stops Iowa's Bob Stearns during a 1952 game at old Memorial Stadium. Leroy Moon (66) is ready to assist on the tackle. / Indiana University Arbutus

There were few highlights from there. Indiana would not win another conference game – and would be beaten by double-digit margins in all but one of the games. Indiana’s only subsequent victory was a 33-0 victory over a two-win Temple team at home.

A moral victory came at Purdue in the season finale. The clock ran out on the Hoosiers with the ball at the Purdue 2-yard line in a 21-16 victory for the co-conference champion Boilermakers. Indiana finished 2-7.

“After a year, I’m more confident that the job can be done,” Crimmins told the IU Alumni Club just after the season.

Unfortunately for Indiana, Crimmins’ confidence was never born out in results. He finished his Indiana stint with a 13-32 record.

Related stories on Indiana football

• SMITH HAD BIG SHOES TO FILL: Part 1 of the first-year Indiana football coaches series hones in on Clyde Smith, who had the unenviable task of replacing program legend Bo McMillin. CLICK HERE.

• CIGNETTI DRUMS UP EXCITEMENT: Curt Cignetti has energized the Indiana fanbase as he begins his football coaching stint with the Hoosiers. CLICK HERE.

• INDIANA STARTS FALL CAMP: The Hoosiers began fall camp last Friday as the Curt Cignetti era begins in earnest. CLICK HERE.