1999 Inductee

John Michels

John Michels, Tennessee's 1996 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, was once described as "not as wide as Hickman-but just as tough as 'Suff."'

It is high praise indeed, because both Herman Hickman (elected 1959) and Bob Suffridge (elected 1961) are among 15 previous Tennessee inductees into the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame, joining other Vol linemen Bob Johnson (elected 1989) and Ed Molinski (elected 1990).

Sportswriter Stanley Woodward wrote of Michels in his 1952 Football Magazine: "Inordinately quick, combative and hard-running, Michels is an effective blocker on the line and one of the Tennessee players most likely to be found blocking ahead of the runner twenty-five yards down the field. He is a remarkably clean blocker, with body control which makes it possible for him to fake a defender into position to be obliterated."

A native of Philadelphia, Michels, who played offensive guard at 5-10, 195, led the way up front for hard-charging Tennessee teams of 1950, 1951 and 1952 vintage. Hall of Fame inductee and Vol tailback Hank Lauricella (elected 1981) followed Michels' lead for 881 yards rushing in 1951, a Vol record which stood for 21 years. It was a time in which the Vols, featuring a bruising single-wing attack, won 29 games and lost but four, visiting the Cotton Bowl twice and the Sugar Bowl once. The 1951 Vols averaged 306.8 yards rushing per game and scored 40 rushing touchdowns, both still school records.

After an 114 season and Cotton Bowl victory over Texas in the 1950 season, the Vols compiled a 10-0 regular season record and grabbed the National Championship the next season, earning a Sugar Bowl berth versus Baylor. The Vols made a return trip to the Cotton Bowl after the 1952 season. Michels' tenure at Tennessee coincided with the final three years of the coaching career of Gen. Robert R. Neyland, Vol mentor from 1926-52 and 1956 College Football Hall of Fame inductee.

Michels was a consensus All-America choice in 1952 and a two-time All-SEC selection (1951-52). He won the Jacobs Trophy as the SECs best blocker in 1952. He played in the College All-Star Game in 1953.

He played professionally for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles (1953, 1956) and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (1957) around a stint in the Army in 1954-55, during which time he was selected as an All-Army player. He coached at Texas A&M in 1958, before returning to Winnipeg as an assistant coach.

At Winnipeg, he was involved in five Grey Cups, once as a player (winning in 1957) and four times as a coach (his team winning in 1959, 1961, and 1962, and losing in 1965). In his 27 years as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Vikings, he coached in four Super Bowls (1970,1974, 1975,1977) and eight divisional playoffs. His products at Minnesota included Pro Bowlers Mick Tinglehoff, Ron Yary, Ed White, Milt Sunde and Grady Alderman. Michels was inducted into the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame in August 1996.