University of Minnesota Athletics
Charles "Bud" Wilkinson - M Club Hall of Fame
Charles 'Bud' Wilkinson
Football, 1934-36
Men’s Hockey, 1934-36
Men’s Golf, 1934-36
HOF Class of 1992
Minneapolis native Bud Wilkinson came to the U of M in 1934; as a guard on the football team that fall and the next he earned back-to-back All-America honors on undefeated national championship teams.
Injuries led Coach Bernie Bierman to ask Wilkinson to switch to quarterback for 1936, and as QB Wilkinson led the Gophers to their third straight undefeated season and national crown.
Wilkinson was also an All-American goalie on the hockey team, and played varsity golf. He received the Big Ten Medal of Honor, the University’s highest honor for scholastics and sports, in 1936.
Wilkinson graduated, earned a master’s degree at Syracuse University, and returned to Minnesota as Bierman’s assistant until commissioned in the Navy.
After military service, Wilkinson became head football coach at the University of Oklahoma, where his Sooners won 12 straight conference crowns and 47 consecutive games over five season. His Oklahoma record was 145-29-4, with three national titles.
Wilkinson was inducted into the College Football and National Football Coaches halls of fame, was elected president of the American Football Coaches Association, received the 1962 Sports Ilustrated Silver Anniversary All-American award, and was a physical fitness consultant to U.S. presidents Nixon and Kennedy. He coached the NFL St. Louis Cardinals 1978-79, and worked as a TV analyst for ESPN and ABC.