An Incomplete History of MCHS Football 1925-2020
Welcome to Cardinal Football!
In the fall of 1977 Coach Fracker (former MC teacher and coach) was an assistant varsity coach to first year Head Coach Merv Ward. He had served the previous two years as a freshmen coach under Coach Doug Clark. After some preliminary investigation he was unable to find any individual or team records and felt it might be a motivational tool to do so. Thus a 40 year “hobby” began. What you have here is a vast accumulation of data and information at your fingertips which required hundreds, if not thousands, of hours over 40 year period to compile.
By no means is this a “complete” picture of Michigan Center’s storied and historical past. Former varsity assistant and head coach Bob Shannon and Coach Fracker did not start researching in earnest until after they retired in the early 2000’s. They had both kept fairly comprehensive records of their tenures as head coach, but such was not the case for all coaches. In the first attempts to compile records in 1977 it was discovered that seasonal scorebooks of individual games were not kept until 1959. Much of the “statistical” data comes from reviewing individual newspaper accounts. In fact they are yet to review the statistical data and newspaper accounts from 1995 to 2015.
Their intent is still to publish a narrative history in book form but they are aging very quickly and this may not come to fruition. Should this not come to pass they are hopeful that someone may pick up the standard and build upon what was collected.
Stan Fracker (MCHS Class of ’59) Bob Shannon (MCHS Class of ’65)
Check out the records compiled by Coaches Shannon & Fracker over the years
Welcome to Cardinal Football!
In the fall of 1977 Coach Fracker (former MC teacher and coach) was an assistant varsity coach to first year Head Coach Merv Ward. He had served the previous two years as a freshmen coach under Coach Doug Clark. After some preliminary investigation he was unable to find any individual or team records and felt it might be a motivational tool to do so. Thus a 40 year “hobby” began. What you have here is a vast accumulation of data and information at your fingertips which required hundreds, if not thousands, of hours over 40 year period to compile.
By no means is this a “complete” picture of Michigan Center’s storied and historical past. Former varsity assistant and head coach Bob Shannon and Coach Fracker did not start researching in earnest until after they retired in the early 2000’s. They had both kept fairly comprehensive records of their tenures as head coach, but such was not the case for all coaches. In the first attempts to compile records in 1977 it was discovered that seasonal scorebooks of individual games were not kept until 1959. Much of the “statistical” data comes from reviewing individual newspaper accounts. In fact they are yet to review the statistical data and newspaper accounts from 1995 to 2015.
Their intent is still to publish a narrative history in book form but they are aging very quickly and this may not come to fruition. Should this not come to pass they are hopeful that someone may pick up the standard and build upon what was collected.
Stan Fracker (MCHS Class of ’59) Bob Shannon (MCHS Class of ’65)
Check out the records compiled by Coaches Shannon & Fracker over the years
