The patriarch of one of the biggest names in Michigan State football has died.
Hank Bullough, former Spartan player, assistant coach and MSU Athletics Hall of Fame member, died on Sunday, November 24 at the age of 85.
Bullough played at Michigan State from 1952-54 and was an assistant at the school for 12 years from 1959-69 and in 1994. Bullough won a national championship as both a player (1952) and coach (1965-1966). He also won a Super Bowl ring as an assistant coach with the Colts during the 1970 season.
“Michigan State has lost a great Spartan and the game of football has lost a coaching legend,” said MSU head football coach Mark Dantonio in a released statement from the school. “I met Hank the first day I came to Michigan State as an assistant coach in 1995, when he was leaving as the defensive coordinator under Coach Perles. He made an immediate impact on me.
Dantonio coached three of Bullough’s grandsons, Max, Riley and Byron and Hank’s son Chuck is currently the defensive end’s coach at MSU. Chuck was a linebacker at MSU in the 1980s as was Hank’s other son Shane.
“Hank lived and breathed green and white. He was extremely active in the Michigan State Football Players Association and led the organization for a number of years. He was also instrumental in helping create the George Webster Scholarship Program, which is a huge benefit for our program,” Dantonio said in the released statement.
“The Spartan football family sends our deepest sympathies and condolences to the Bullough family.”
“Thanks to Michigan State, I accomplished everything I could have hoped for in my profession,” Bullough said in 2013, when he was inducted into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame. “I played here during the 28-game winning streak (1950-53), played on the 1952 National Championship team and coached for the 1965 and ’66 National Championship teams. In 1970, I won a Super Bowl ring with the Baltimore Colts. There aren’t many who have been involved in this game that can say that. I’ve been very fortunate. For me, Michigan State is a place where a student can come and accomplish whatever he or she wants to because this University offers so many opportunities.”
In 2004, he was named president of the MSU Football Players Association and later became executive director of the organization.
Born Jan. 24, 1934, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Bullough attended high school in Canton, Ohio. At Timken Vocational High in Canton, he earned honorable mention all-state accolades in football.
Bullough earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Michigan State in 1955. He played a season with the Green Bay Packers in 1955 before serving in the Army, and was discharged in time to rejoin Green Bay for the 1958 season.
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