The History of Michigan Wolverines football in the early years covers the history of the University of Michigan Wolverines football program from its formation in the 1870s through the hiring of Fielding H. Yost prior to the 1901 season. Michigan was independent of any conference until 1896 when it became one of the founding members of the Western Conference (now known as the Big Ten Conference). The team played its home games at the Washtenaw County Fairgrounds from 1883 to 1892 and then at Regents Field starting in 1893.
While the first official university football team was not formed until 1879, class football teams were formed as early as 1870. The university team played its first game against Racine College in May 1879, and Irving Kane Pond scored the first touchdown in Michigan football history. In 1881, the Michigan football team traveled to the East and played a series of games that marked the beginning of football as an inter-sectional game. In the mid-1880s, the Wolverines had four consecutive undefeated seasons and allowed opponents to score only two points between November 1884 and April 1888. In November 1887, the Michigan football team traveled to South Bend, Indiana, where it taught Notre Dame students the game of football and participated in the first Notre Dame football game.
The Michigan football team was among the first to be racially integrated. George Jewett became Michigan's first African-American player in 1890 and was one of the leading stars in the early years of Michigan football. The 1891 season was the first in which the Michigan football team had a coach with Frank Crawford and Mike Murphy coaching the team. William McCauley served as head coach in 1894 and 1895 and compiled a 17–2–1 record, including the Wolverines' first victory over one of the Eastern football powers. The 1895 team outscored opponents 266 to 14 and was acknowledged as the Western football champions.
In 1896, Michigan participated in the first indoor football game, a game played under electric lights at the Chicago Coliseum. The 1898 Michigan team compiled a perfect 10–0 record, outscored its opponents 205 to 26, and won the school's first Western Conference championship. William Cunningham became Michigan's first consensus All-American, and the victory of the 1898 team over Amos Alonzo Stagg's Chicago Maroons inspired Louis Elbel to write Michigan's fight song, "The Victors." Gustave Ferbert served as Michigan's head coach from 1897 to 1899, compiling a record of 24–3–1, including a 16-game winning streak from 1898 to 1899. In May 1900, Ferbert left the program to prospect for gold in Alaska. His replacement, Langdon Lea, lasted only one year as Michigan's head coach.
Year-by-year results SeasonHead coachCaptainConf. rankRecordPFPA 1879 No coach David DeTarr na 1–0–1 1 0 1880 No coach John Chase na 1–0 13 6 1881 No coach W. S. Horton na 0–3 4 28 1882 No coach W. J. Olcott na 0–0 0 0 1883 No coach W. J. Olcott na 2–3 63 73 1884 No coach H. Prettyman na 2–0 36 10 1885 No coach H. Prettyman na 3–0 82 2 1886 No coach H. Prettyman na 2–0 74 0 1887 No coach John Duffy na 5–0 66 0 1888 No coach James Duffy na 2–1 130 46 1889 No coach E. McPherran na 1–2 33 80 1890 No coach Wm. Malley na 4–1 129 36 1891 Murphy & Crawford J. Van Inwagen na 4–5 168 114 1892 Frank Barbour George Dygert na 7–5 298 170 1893 Frank Barbour George Dygert na 7–3 278 102 1894 William McCauley James Baird na 9–1–1 244 84 1895 William McCauley F. Henninger na 8–1 266 14 1896 William Ward Henry Senter 2nd 9–1 262 11 1897 Gustave Ferbert James R. Hogg 3rd 6–1–1 168 31 1898 Gustave Ferbert John Bennett 1st 10–0 205 36 1899 Gustave Ferbert Allen Steckle 4th 8–2 176 43 1900 Langdon Lea Neil Snow 4th 7–2–1 117 55
History of the program
Early developments
The November 1869 game between Rutgers University and Princeton University is often cited as the first game of intercollegiate football. By the spring of 1870, the game had spread to Ann Arbor. In April 1870, members of the freshman class announced that they had formed a football club. And in May 1870, the football club formed by the freshmen defeated the football team from the Union School by a score of 7 to 5.Union Schools were formed throughout the State of Michigan in the 1860s as a bridge between primary education and the state university. The source does not indicate which Union School played in the April 1870 football game, but it was most likely the Union School of Ann Arbor, which opened in 1856 and was located on State Street between Washington and Huron. The school was later renamed Ann Arbor High School. See Jonathan Marwil, History of Ann Arbor (UM Press 1991), pages 25, 33-34. Beginning in the early 1870s, football teams formed by the individual classes also played games against each other.("Last Saturday's game of foot-ball between sophomores and freshmen came to an untimely end—someone put their foot into it (the ball).")("The sophomores and freshmen play foot-ball today. Fifty men have been chosen from each class to represent their respective classes in the quiet game.")
In May 1873, a newly formed Foot Ball Association approved the first set of official rules to govern the game at Michigan.("At a students' meeting on Wednesday of this week, a committee was appointed to draft a constitution for a "Foot Ball Association.")(publishing Rules and Regulations for Foot-ball adopted by the association) Michigan's 1873 Rules and Regulations for Foot-ball (shown at right) provided for no more than 20 players per side, allowed a player running with the ball "may be tripped or thrown, but not backed", and prohibited players from wearing "projecting nails, iron plates, or gutta percha, upon the heels or soles of his shoes."
In the fall of 1873, The Chronicle (a student newspaper of the time) announced that the Cornell football team had accepted a challenge to play a "match game of foot-ball" in Cleveland, but the Cornell faculty had refused to grant the players leave to attend the game.("The blame of the failure rests with the faculty of Cornell, which refuses to grant its chosen thirty, leave of absence to meet our thirty in friendly contest on the ball-field at Cleveland; a disappointment which must be swallowed with as good a grace as possible.") The Chronicle protested the "apron-string, boarding school tyranny" of the Cornell faculty. In October 1874, members of Michigan's University Foot Ball Organization continued their efforts to schedule a game with Cornell, but The Chronicle expressed doubt that it would ever happen.("The prospect for a game with the Cornell boys are, at present, very flattering, but disappointment in this respect has so often befallen them that we have advised the printer to leave the above hopeful paragraph as 'standing matter.'")
By November 1877, interest in football appears to have waned at Michigan. The Chronicle at that time eschewed the emphasis placed on the game in Eastern colleges: "It is noticeable that a greater part of the department for the Fall numbers is given to silly foot-ball matches and other boyish nonsense which makes Eastern colleges a laughing stock in the eyes of sober-minded people. It is all well-enough to have a foot-ball game once in a while for a little exercise, but for a number of colleges to take more interest in such things than they do in their studies, is a peculiar product of the Eastern superiority."
Formation of a team in 1879
In October 1878, The Chronicle published a letter from the Racine College football team proposing a game at a neutral site in Chicago. Racine offered to procure the grounds, tend to the advertising, and pay Michigan two-thirds of the gate money. In late October, the Michigan Foot-ball Association voted to accept the challenge on condition that the game be played in the spring. The Association explained: "Inasmuch as the University possesses no eleven, and as the lateness of the season prohibits the training of one, a game this fall is out of the question." On October 26, The Chronicle emphasized: "[O]ne very important point must not be overlooked. It is essential that we win the first game. ... Defeat would put an end to all our fond expectations, while success alone can make them possible."
On April 5, 1879, The Chronicle expressed concern over the lack of work in preparing the team for its game against Racine: "The time for the long-expected and much-talked of foot-ball match with Racine is rapidly approaching and as yet little or no work has been done by our teams to prepare for it. We learn from the Racine paper that ... the men have been at work in the gymnasium all winter. Of course, we, not having the advantage which a gymnasium affords, could not work in the winter, but now that the snow has gone, it is high time that our teams were hard at work every day. But they are not. Indeed they seem to be distinguished only by their laziness and lack of enthusiasm." On May 3, 1879, The Chronicle wrote that the Athletic Association had appointed committees to select the players for the university football team, to select uniforms for the team, and "to obtain subscriptions to meet the expense of sending the team to Chicago."
On May 17, 1879, The Chronicle devoted its front page to coverage of the upcoming football game in Chicago. The paper reported that a team of 22 players had been selected and had decided to practice "after supper, when the campus would be free, and it would not interfere with study." The paper continued to express concerns about the lack of rigor in the team's practice: "[T]hey have not all been on the ground at the same time since they were selected, the least sprinkle of rain, a little stiffness of the joints, a slight lack of energy, anything in short that could be twisted into an excuse seemed to be enough to keep them off the grounds. Now this will not do if the boys expect to win, if they expect even to make a respectable showing they must practice every possible moment, must put off everything else, study, amusement, girls, everything, and be promptly on hand for the nightly game. ... [T]hey must work hard and faithfully else they will disgrace our University and make it anything but an honor to have been a member of the team of 1878–9."
On the Wednesday evening before the Racine game, the team appeared on campus in their new uniforms: "They presented quite a neat appearance. The uniform is of white canvas, close fitting, with blue stockings and belt."
The first game in May 1879
The first intercollegiate football game in Michigan history was played against the "Purple Stockings" from Racine College on May 30, 1879, at the Chicago White Stockings' grounds in Lakefront Park (now part of Grant Park). The game began at 4:15 p.m. in front of a crowd of 500 spectators, amid heat described as "oppressive." The Chicago Daily Tribune called it "the first rugby-football game to be played west of the Alleghenies."
The game was played in two innings of 45 minutes. (The periods of play were referred to as "innings.") Irving Kane Pond (who later became a noted architect whose works include the Michigan Union) scored the first touchdown in Michigan football history midway through the first inning. According to Will Perry's history of Michigan football, the crowd responded with cheers of "Pond Forever." No points were scored for a touchdown, with a point being scored from touchdown only if the kick for goal after the touchdown succeeded. (publishing a summary of the rules of the game of foot-ball under rugby rules for those unfamiliar with the game) After Pond's touchdown, Michigan's team captain, David DeTarr, attempted the kick for goal. The Michigan players and umpire opined that the kick was good, but the referee ruled it had missed. The first inning ended at 4:55 p.m. with no points having been scored. Play was resumed after a ten-minute rest period.