Clarence "Biggie" Munn was born in North Minneapolis in 1908 and started his athletic career at North High School, where he starred in football, baseball, basketball and track and field.
Clarence (Biggie) Munn: Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Class of 1963
Minneapolis native is in the College Football Hall of Fame.
November 25, 2019 at 3:54AM
At the University of Minnesota, he played tackle, guard and fullback but made his mark as a guard and a punter. Because of Munn's running ability coach Fritz Crisler devised special plays on which Munn could pull out from his guard position and run with lateral passes. He was named an All-America in 1931.
Competing in track and field for the Gophers, Munn set both the Big 10 indoor and outdoor shot put records.
After graduating from the Minnesota he embarked on a coaching career. He was the head coach at Albright for two years before becoming an assistant coach at Michigan State in 1938. He was the head coach at Syracuse for one season, before becoming the head coach at Michigan State in 1947.
Under Munn, the Spartans were unbeaten in 1951 and 1952. The 1952 team was named the national champion as Munn was national "Coach of the Year." In one stretch, which spanned the 1950 to 1953 seasons, the Spartans won 28 consecutive games.
In 1953, the Spartans went 9-1 and were co-champions of the Big Ten. Following the season, the Spartans defeated UCLA, 28-20 in the Rose Bowl.
Following that victory, he retired from coaching to become the athletic director at Michigan State. In his seven seasons as the Spartans coach, he compiled a 54-9-2 record. His overall head coaching record was 71-16-3.
Munn was named to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959 and the University of Minnesota's "M" Club Hall of Fame in 1993.
CLARENCE (BIGGIE) MUNN
Class: 1963.
Sport: Football.
Teams: Gophers, Michigan State.
