William White was feeling pretty good about himself after becoming a starter as a freshman at Ohio State in 1984 and getting the first interception of his college career in the season opener against Oregon State.
When he went to the sideline and saw Earle Bruce, the Buckeyes head football coach, heading toward him he thought Bruce must be coming over to congratulate him.
“I’m a freshman, I’m all happy. Earle comes up and grabs me by the helmet and is yanking me and yelling at me. I just got an interception and he’s talking about a tackle I missed two plays ago. I was like, ‘Really?’
“But when you look back at it, it was to make you better. That was the passion he had. It was always that way,” White said.
White was in Lima to speak at Ohio State-Lima’s Spring for Scholarships fund raiser on Thursday night. Before that event began he remembered Bruce, his coach for four years at Ohio State, who died last week at age 87.
“Earle was real. He was a guy who always spoke the truth and he had the passion for players, the organization, the team,” said White, who started for four years at OSU and went on to play 11 seasons in the NFL as a defensive back for the Detroit Lions, Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons.
“I don’t know if he could coach now. He was very hard on us with tackling and things of that nature. My first two years I thought he hated me, as much as he yelled. I’m starting as a freshman and I’m thinking, ‘You ought to be embracing me and trying to help me out.’ But every time he talked to me he was yelling about something,” White said.
“But it was to make me better and get better. When I was able to settle in and become a decent player we actually became friends.”
Bruce was fired five days before the Michigan game in White’s senior season at Ohio State in 1987 but was allowed to coach against the Wolverines.
White has often called that the most memorable game of his football career, including playing in the Super Bowl when he was with the Falcons.
One of the things he remembers most about that week was Bruce’s focus on the game and only the game when he was around the team.
“He coached us the exact same way. He never said anything about him not being there. He wanted to make sure it was about the team and beating That Team Up North and not about him,” White said.
White graduated from Ohio State with a degree in engineering by returning to school for one academic quarter for four years after he began playing in the NFL. He said Bruce called him into his office after being fired and told him he had to finish his degree.
“He pointed his finger at me and said, ‘William, I know it’s a five-year program but you’ve got to get your degree in engineering.’ And when Coach Bruce says something to you, you have to go do that,” he said.
“He was a good dude. They don’t get much better than that.”
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