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Bo McMillin

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Bo McMillin

Alvin Nugent "Bo" McMillin (January 12, 1895 – March 31, 1952) was an American football player and coach at the collegiate and professional level. He played college football at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where he was a three-time All-American at quarterback, and led the Centre Praying Colonels to an upset victory over Harvard in 1921. McMillin was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player as part of its inaugural 1951 class.

McMillin was the head football coach at Centenary College of Louisiana (1922–1924), Geneva College (1925–1927), Kansas State University (1928–1933) and Indiana University (1934–1947), compiling a career college football coaching record of 140–77–13. In 1945, he led Indiana to its first Big Ten Conference title and was named AFCA Coach of the Year.

After graduating from Centre, McMillin played professionally with the Milwaukee Badgers and Cleveland Indians—two early National Football League (NFL) teams—in 1922 and 1923. He later returned to the NFL, coaching the Detroit Lions from 1948 to 1950 and the Philadelphia Eagles for the first two games of the 1951 season before his death. McMillin's career NFL coaching mark was 14–24.

McMillin was born on January 12, 1895, to Reuben Thomas McMillin and Martha Buchanan Reilly in Prairie Hill, Limestone County, Texas. The family moved in 1897 to Waco and in 1901 to Fort Worth. McMillin's father was a meat packer. As a child, Bo was known to pick fights, but was also known all his life as one who never drunk nor smoked nor swore. He spoke with a distinctive Texas drawl. He was an Irish Catholic.

He played football as a running back at North Side High School in Fort Worth and Somerset High School in Somerset, Kentucky. At North Side, he played with Red Weaver and was coached by Robert L. (Chief) Myers. Sully Montgomery, Matty Bell, Bill James and Bob Mathias also attended North Side. By the ninth grade, McMillin had reached his full growth at 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) and 165 pounds (75 kg).

Myers obtained the coaching job at his alma mater, Centre College, and brought all the above-named players with him. McMillin and Weaver did not have sufficient high-school credits to enter college and enrolled at Somerset High School for the 1916-17 year, playing with Red Roberts. "I've got a boy under my wing down here in Texas who's a football-playing fool and I want him to go to Centre. I'd like for you to get him in a high school up there, and away from his pool-playing pals in Texas." wrote Myers to a man in Somerset.

McMillin began his collegiate career at Centre College in Kentucky. McMillin was a poor student who supported himself by gambling and liked to play football. McMillin failed all his courses during his senior year, eventually receiving his A.B. degree from Centre in 1937 with credit for military service and courses taken after he left the college. According to McMillin, he initially left Centre with $3,500 in debt.

He was a Hall-of-Fame, three-time All-American, triple-threat quarterback on the Centre Colonels football team under head coaches Chief Myers and Charley Moran. McMillin was the quarterback on Centre's all-time football team which was chosen in 1935. He was nominated for the Associated Press All-Time Southeast 1869-1919-era team. In McMillin's day of iron man football, he was also a safety man on defense and a kick returner on special teams.

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