Coach and Assistant Athletic Director At Michigan
In 1940, Fritz Crisler described McCoy as "a Michigan man" and lured him back to Ann Arbor as an assistant football coach and freshman baseball coach. During World War II, McCoy took a leave from Michigan to serve in the United States Navy. In 1946, Crisler named McCoy as the school's assistant athletic director. He was an assistant basketball coach in 1947–48 and took over as head coach for the 1948–49 season. In his first season as the Wolverines' basketball coach, the team went 15-6 and finished third in the Big Ten as Pete Elliott and Bob Harrison were both selected as All-Big Ten players. In 1950, the team dropped to 11–11 and followed with successive 7–15 finishes in 1951 and 1952. Overall, McCoy had a 40–47 record (18–34 in conference) in four years as Michigan's head basketball coach.
During his time at Michigan, McCoy was an advocate for intercollegiate athletics but also for maintaining a balance between athletics and academics. In a 1950 speech, McCoy noted that athletics "are definitely part of our educational system -- it builds character, fortitude, the will to win and to keep your chin up when you lose." However, he also warned against the constant demands of fans and alumni to win at all costs: "The constant demand from the alumnus for a winning team may ruin athletics...If a coaching staff fulfills its duties in the class room and can develop high ideals of character in athletes, then the administrators are wrong in firing the coach." In 1952, a senior U-M physical education professor said of McCoy: "He has a broad viewpoint on the relationships between the intercollegiate athletic department and the University's physical education department. His ability to combine all the virtues of an academic dean with the attributes of an intercollegiate athletic director is outstanding."
Read more about this topic: Ernie Mc Coy (athletic Director)
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