Chalmers William "Bump" Elliott (January 30, 1925 – December 7, 2019) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played halfback at Purdue University (1943–1944) and the University of Michigan (1946–1947). Elliott grew up in Bloomington, Illinois, enlisted in the United States Marine Corps as a senior in high school and was assigned to the V-12 Navy College Training Program at Purdue University. He received varsity letters in football, baseball, and basketball at Purdue, before being called into active duty in late 1944, serving with the Marines in China.
After being discharged from the military, he enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1946 and joined the football team for whom his brother Pete Elliott played quarterback. In 1947, he played for an undefeated and untied Michigan football team known as the "Mad Magicians", led the Big Nine Conference in scoring, won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the conference, and was selected as an All-American by the American Football Coaches Association.
After graduating from Michigan in 1948, Elliott spent ten years as an assistant football coach at Oregon State, Iowa, and Michigan. He was appointed as Michigan's head football coach in 1959 and held that position until 1968, leading the team to a Big Ten Conference championship and Rose Bowl victory in the 1964 season. For a period of 21 years, from 1970 to 1991, he was the athletic director at the University of Iowa. During his tenure as athletic director, he hired coaches Dan Gable, Hayden Fry, Lute Olson, C. Vivian Stringer, and Dr. Tom Davis, and the Iowa Hawkeyes won 41 Big Ten Conference championships and 11 NCAA titles. In 1989, Elliott was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Early life Chalmers William Elliott was born in Detroit, but grew up in Bloomington, Illinois. His father, J. Norman Elliott, was an ears, nose and throat doctor who also coached football at Illinois Wesleyan University from 1930 to 1934. Elliott's given name is Chalmers, but he was known by the nickname "Bump" since he was six months old, though no one remembered how he received the nickname, "not even his mother."
Elliott and his younger brother, Pete Elliott, both played football together for Bloomington High School, where Bump was an All-State halfback in 1942, and Pete made it as a fullback in 1943. Had it not been for World War II, Bump and Pete likely would have attended the University of Illinois, which was about 50 miles from their home in Bloomington. However, both brothers wanted to get into the V-12 Navy College Training Program, and Illinois did not have such a program. Bump enlisted in the United States Marine Corps while still a senior in high school and was called to active duty in 1943. He was assigned to the V-12 officer training program at Purdue University. His brother, Pete, also enlisted and was assigned to officer training at Michigan.
Purdue University and military service Elliott attended Purdue from 1943 to 1944. In his freshman year, Elliott earned varsity letters in football, basketball and baseball. He played three games for the unbeaten and untied 1943 Purdue Boilermakers football team and was described as "a capable triple-threater and stellar defensive performer." He scored a touchdown against Minnesota in his first game, and made a key interception at Purdue's ten-yard line in the season's final game against Indiana. A May 1944 newspaper article reported that the 19-year-old Elliott, who had been a "high school sensation last year," had won three major athletic letters in his first year as a Naval V-12 student at Purdue. "A speedy 160-pound, five foot 10-inch performer, he lost little time making his mark in football last fall once he became eligible upon completion of his first V-12 term." Elliott appeared in the final three games of the football season, and his performance in the season's final game against Indiana "provided one of the highlights of the Boilermaker season."
In basketball, he was "consistent as a guard on Purdue's cage combination." In baseball, Elliott played shortstop and center field, where he was "a steady fielder with a strong arm." In a May 1944 game, Elliott led the Boilermakers to a 17–4 win over Wisconsin, with five hits, five stolen bases, four RBIs, three runs scored, and four putouts in center field. His performance against Wisconsin was "one of the biggest baseball days ever turned" by a Big Ten baseball player.
Elliott played in the first six games of the 1944 football season for Purdue before being transferred by the Marine Corps. In a game against Marquette in late September, he broke up a 7–7 tie with successive touchdown runs of 24 and 71 yards. He was also the only defensive player in 1944 to pull down Illinois' Buddy Young from behind. Elliott received orders to report for active duty in October 1944, and he played his last game in a Purdue uniform against the Michigan Wolverines on October 28, 1944. In November 1944, Elliott was sent to Parris Island. He was later sent to China and emerged from the war as a Marine lieutenant.
University of Michigan Elliott and his younger brother, Pete, were teammates again at Michigan in 1946 and 1947. After his discharge from the military, Bump joined Pete at Michigan, where Pete played quarterback and Bump was the right halfback for the undefeated 1947 team.Before the 1948 Rose Bowl, one article noted that the two brothers roomed together at Michigan and arranged their programs so that their classes were identical. The article observed: "They look alike, act alike and think alike and in Ann Arbor, Mich., when they walk down the street any Michigan student can recognize Bump and Pete, the inseparable Elliott Brothers, Wolverines right half and quarterback respectively." The brothers shared the same distinctive golden red hair, and the two were so close that they told a reporter in 1947 that a girl had to receive "the Bumper stamp of approval" before passing Pete's test.
1946 season After being discharged from the Marine Corps, Elliott attended the University of Michigan, where he joined his brother, Pete, in Michigan's backfield. Elliott "practically stepped off a World War II transport from Marine Corps duty in China to Michigan's Ferry Field and stardom." With less than a week of conditioning after his discharge from the Marines, he was reported to be giving Michigan's coaching staff "something lovely to look at."
In a 14–14 tie with Northwestern in mid-October 1946, Elliott scored all 14 of Michigan's points. He scored the first touchdown late in the first quarter on a 37-yard pass from Bob Chappuis in the corner of the end zone. In the fourth quarter, Michigan fullback Bob Wiese intercepted a pass on Michigan's 1-yard line, and lateralled to Elliott on the Michigan 40-yard line. From that point, Elliott ran it back 60 yards down the sideline for his second touchdown. He again scored two touchdowns in Michigan's 21–0 win over Minnesota on November 2. He also helped Michigan to a 28–6 win over Wisconsin with a bullet pass to end Bob Mann in the end zone.
Big Nine MVP in 1947
In 1947, Elliott played for the Wolverines team known as the "Mad Magicians" that went undefeated and untied, beating the USC Trojans, 49–0, in the 1948 Rose Bowl. The team is considered to be the greatest Michigan team of all time. Along with Bob Chappuis, Elliott was one of the key players in Michigan's undefeated season. He led the Big Nine Conference in scoring, made the All-American team picked by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), and was voted Most Valuable Player in the Big Nine, winning the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy. Elliott was one of two Michigan players in 1947, along with fullback Jack Weisenburger, who played both offense and defense. Indeed, Elliott was actually a four-way threat as he contributed in rushing, receiving, punt returns, and defense. He scored a total of 12 touchdowns in 1947—eight rushing, two receiving, one on a punt return, and another on an interception return. He contributed 911 all-purpose yardage – 438 rushing, 318 receiving, and 155 on punt returns. He averaged 6.4 yards per carry as a rusher, 19.9 yards per reception, and 17.2 yards per punt return. Michigan head coach Fritz Crisler called Elliott the greatest right halfback he had ever seen.
Elliott had a breakthrough season that began with the team's "Blue" versus "White" exhibition game in mid-September in which he scored four touchdowns, including 50- and 60-yard runs. He scored touchdowns in each of the team's early season wins over Michigan State (55–0), Stanford (49–13), and Pitt (69–0). His touchdown against Pitt came on defense, as he intercepted a pass and ran it back 37 yards. In the Big Nine opener against Northwestern, Elliott scored on a nine-yard run less than two minutes after the game started, as the Wolverines won, 49–21. In Michigan's closest contest of the 1947 season, a 13–6 win over Minnesota, Elliott caught a 40-yard pass from Bob Chappuis on his fingertips at the Minnesota 15-yard line and went on to score with a minute and 15 seconds to go in the first half. Said one reporter: "It was the exceptional speed of Elliott on this play that turned the tide. He completely outmaneuvered the Minnesota secondary."
The biggest challenge of the 1947 season came in a 14–7 win over Illinois. The Associated Press (AP) described Elliott as Michigan's "Big Cog" in the Illinois game, and the United Press proclaimed: "Bump Elliott Steals Show in 14 to 7 Defeat of Illinois Saturday." In the first quarter, he ran back a punt 75 yards for a touchdown, as Bob Mann "bulldozed the path with a vicious block", and "the Bloomington blaster scampered down the sidelines." Elliott also set up the Wolverines second score with a long reception to the Illinois four-yard line. He also played a key role on defense, intercepting a pass at the Michigan nine-yard line to halt an Illinois drive. Another article concluded: "The individual hero was Bump Elliott, a 168-pound halfback who loped 74 yards for one touchdown and caught a pass for a 52 yard gain to set up the second and winning marker."
Elliott finished the season scoring two touchdowns each in games against Indiana and Ohio State. At the end of the season, Elliott and Chappuis both received 16 of 18 possible points in voting by the AP for the All-Big Nine football team. Elliott weighed only during his All-American season in 1947. Asked later about how he managed to compete at his weight, Elliott noted, "I was awful lucky to get by at that weight."
1948 Rose Bowl against USC
As the Big Nine Conference champions, the 1947 Wolverines were invited to play in the 1948 Rose Bowl game against the USC Trojans. Michigan dominated the game, winning 49–0, as "the shifty Chappuis and the speedy Elliott began to fake (the Trojans) out of their shoes." Elliott scored on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Chappuis. In August 1948, Elliott was chosen as the captain of the College All-Stars in their game against the Chicago Cardinals at Soldier Field. Injured in practice, Elliott was unable to play as the Cardinals beat the All-Stars, 28–0.
Application for 1948 eligibility denied Elliott applied for an extra year of eligibility in 1948. Due to his military service, he played in only three games as a freshman and six games in his sophomore season. Under the Big Nine Conference code, he was eligible for a fifth season due to a war-caused stay at Purdue in 1943 and 1944. However, his request was denied by the Big Nine Conference. The decision was criticized by Michigan's representative on the Big Nine faculty committee as a "grave injustice." Nonetheless, Elliott set the Michigan career interception return yards record that stood for five years until Don Oldham pushed the record from 174 yards to 181 yards. His 174 career yards still ranks fifth in school history.