Tirrel Burton

Tirrel Burton (born c. 1930) is a former American football player, coach, and radio broadcaster. He played halfback for Ara Parseghian's championship teams at Miami University in 1954 and 1955 and led the undefeated, untied 1955 team in rushing, scoring, pass interceptions, kickoff returns and punt returns, while breaking the university's all-time single-season scoring record. He played one year of professional football in 1956 for the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League. He was an assistant football coach at Central State University (1968), Miami University (1969) and the University of Michigan (1970–1991). He became a radio announcer for Michigan Wolverines football games on WUOM radio in 1994.

Athlete at Miami University
After three-and-a-half years of military service, Burton enrolled at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Miami's head football coach at the time, Ara Parseghian, recruited Burton to Miami. Parseghian recalled, "He had tremendous speed and we were anxious to have him. He could break the line. That's what every coach looks for." Burton became a two-sport star at Miami, lettering three years each in both football and track from 1953 to 1955. As a halfback on Parseghian's football teams, Burton helped lead Miami to Mid-American Conference championships in both 1954 and 1955. The 1955 team compiled a perfect 9-0 record, and Burton led the team in rushing (722 yards in 82 carries), scoring (84 points), pass interceptions (4), kickoff returns (3 for 68 yards) and punt returns (14 for 216 yards). Burton's 84 points in 1955 (14 touchdowns in nine games) broke the school's single-season scoring record. At the conclusion of the 1955 season, Burton received more votes than any other player on the All-Mid-American Conference team. He was also selected by Associated Press for its second-team All-Midwestern team behind first-team selection Howard "Hopalong" Cassidy.

Despite its undefeated, untied record, the 1955 Miami football team was not invited to a post-season bowl game, leading the university's president, John D. Millott, to state publicly that he believed "Southern 'social customs'" may have blocked a post-season football bowl bid. An anonymous university of official stated, "That's a roundabout way of saying we weren't chosen because we have colored boys on our squad."

Burton's career rushing total at Miami was 1,298 yards on 157 carries for an average of 8.3 yards per carry. His career scoring total at Miami was 151 points.

In track, Burton won Mid-American Conference championships in the low hurdles three consecutive years and also placed in the high jump and 100-yard dash. As a senior, he placed second in the low hurdles at the national AAU meet and third at the national NCAA meet.

Ottawa Rough Riders
After graduating from Miami in 1956, Burton played one year of professional football for the Ottawa Rough Riders in the Canadian Football League. After a November 1956 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the Ottawa Citizen described Burton as one of Ottawa's stars: "Burton, one of Ottawa's stars, played a leading role in the 95-yard drive which brought the Riders their game-winning field goal. He took a long, 40-yard pass from Ledyard at center field and scurried like a scared rabbit to the Hamilton 27 before being nailed." In his one season of professional football, Burton led the league with eight interceptions. He scored four touchdowns (three rushing, one receiving), and had 155 rushing yards (29 carries for 5.34 yards per carry), 319 receiving yards (14 receptions for 22.79 yards per reception), and 175 kickoff return yards (11 returns for 15.91 yards per return).

Coaching career
After retiring as a player, Burton returned to Miami where he studied physical education and received a master's degree in education in 1962. Burton also worked for nine years as a coach and teacher in the public schools of Cincinnati, Ohio. He was the head coach of a Cincinnati high school football team for two years. Burton credited his college coach for inspiring him to be a coach: "Ara Parseghian was a great coach, ahead of his time as a teacher of all aspects of football. Because of him, I wanted to be a coach."

Burton began a long career as a college football coach in 1968, accepting a position as an assistant football coach at the historically black Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio.

In 1969, Burton's former Miami University teammate, Bill Mallory, was hired as the head football coach at Miami, replacing Bo Schembechler who had accepted the head coaching job at the University of Michigan. Mallory asked Burton to join his coaching staff at Miami, and Burton agreed. Mallory later recalled: "I'd known him back when we were students. I always had great respect for him. He was a darn good coach.  I knew he'd be the kind of person I would want on my staff. I knew he would be a good teacher of the game." Burton became the first African-American coach in any capacity at Miami.

After one season at Miami, Bo Schembechler offered Burton an assistant coaching position at Michigan, and Burton accepted. Despite his strong ties to Miami, Burton recalled that he could not pass on the opportunity to coach at Michigan: "I left Miami to coach at Michigan because of the challenge and an upward move in the profession." Burton began a long career at the University of Michigan as the coach of the 1970 freshman football team and took over responsibility for the offensive ends in 1972. Burton coached Jim Smith to All-American honors in 1976 and remained an assistant football coach at Michigan for 22 years from 1970 to 1991. Burton reported that coaching under Schembechler had been a huge honor: "Bo Schembechler was a great coach. He was from the same mold as Ara [Parseghian] ... Bo was demanding of his coaches and his players. I learned most of what I know about football from Bo."

Later years and honors
After retiring as a coach, Burton remained employed by the University of Michigan as an assistant director of licensing for the athletic department. In 1994, Burton was teamed with Tom Hemingway, who had been announcing University of Michigan football games since 1963, as the radio announcers for Michigan Wolverines football games on WUOM radio.

Burton was inducted into the Miami University Hall of Fame in 1974.