... be the things that you say.
Bump Elliott
Despite his accomplishments, Bump Elliott has largely been a man without a plan.
"I aspire to be successful at the moment, at the time," said the former coach and retired University of Iowa athletics director. "I don't try to make longterm goals; I tried to act right at the moment."
Elliott, 83, was the chief administrator of UI athletics for 21 years.
In his tenure, the program won 41 Big Ten championships and 11 NCAA titles. He also hired notable coaches such as Hayden Fry, Dan Gable and Tom Davis.
Now retired, Elliott lives in Oaknoll Retirement Community with his wife of 54 years, Barbara. He said he follows UI athletics, attending as many games as he can.
"In my life I've been very fortunate and very lucky. Both things have gone well, with my family and my profession," he said.
But his personal and professional successes are attributed to more than pure luck - in both areas, Elliott said he has tried to set an example.
"I felt that words are sometimes OK but not meaningful if you don't live the part," he said. "It was important for me to be the things that you say."
Those things include taking responsibility for his actions, respecting others and - perhaps most importantly - looking for goodness in people.
Elliott grew up a star athlete in his high school in Bloomington, Ill. In his senior year, he decided to join the Marine Corps and was called to active duty a year later.
After being discharged, Elliott attended the University of Michigan, where played fullback on the football team. He made the All-American team and was voted Most Valuable Player in the Big Nine Conference to win the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy.
After graduation, Elliott said he didn't know what to do with his life. As a result, he ended up in athletics. He became an assistant backfield coach at Michigan and later was hired to be the assistant coach at Oregon State.
As a coach, Elliott said he realized what he liked doing and what he was good at, which was helping young people.
"Athletics is a lot of talking. They say a lot of things about making the man or the woman, that kind of thing," he said. "I wanted to do less talking and set an example."
— Hieu Pham
