After a dozen years on the job, Don James was happy as the University of Washington football coach. Comfortable. Successful. Ohio State wanted to make him happier. More comfortable. Much more successful. In 1987, the Buckeyes fired Earl Bruce before the season-ending game against arch rival Michigan and went looking for a new coach. They immediately identified a suitable successor. They set their sights on James, an Ohio native, someone who grew up in the shadows of OSU. The coach had made a big name for himself out west by turning the Huskies into a powerhouse. They Buckeyes had experienced this first hand. The season before, James’ UW team hosted Ohio State at Husky Stadium in a nationally televised game on CBS and handed the Big Ten team a humiliating 40-7 defeat, beating it in every facet of the game. That might have been the beginning of the alumni unrest…
Continue Reading: Ohio State Tried Everything It Could to Hire Don James Away from Washington
