The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Fullback Jerald Ingram Is Still Earning Championship Rings gram's office for all to see. The cham- pionship rings, too, are a source of pride for the New York Giants' run- ning back coach. Only it's not a Giants helmet on ex- T he team helmet is displayed proudly on a shelf on Jerald In- BY CHRIS BALAS hibit, but blue headgear with maize wings. And his Super Bowl ring — a second one is on order after this year's victory over New England — has competition with his Big Ten championship rings when the former Michigan fullback (1979-81) and grad- uate assistant (1984) chooses to pull them from his drawer. Make no mistake — Ingram's heart and soul are Giants blue. His blood, though, still runs maize and blue. "People don't understand, when you walk out that door and leave Michigan, you really never leave," Ingram said passionately in the weeks following the Giants' Super Bowl vic- tory. "I don't know if it's because of the way I am, but it's the most spo- ken name across the country in every board room you can think of. Not ev- erybody talks about certain colleges across the country. "There is always going to be a Michigan name brought up. I don't care if it's an astronaut, a scientist, a basketball player, a writer — you can go into any clothing store and see a Michigan jersey. I've lived in the South, the North … you're going to see some form of Michigan. "I take that pride with me." It's evident in the way he coaches, and in what he teaches. Ingram has been molded by some of the best in the coaching profession, a disciple of Bo Schembechler, former Michigan assistant and Mid-American Confer- ence head coach Paul Schudel and Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, a pedigree that's made him one of the most respected position coaches in his profession. Four different Giants backs rushed Ingram (above with his son, Julian) is the running backs coach for the Super Bowl champion New York Giants, a post he's held since 2004. Ahmad Bradshaw — while no other NFL team had more than three 1,000- yard rushers in the same span. Barber fumbled 14 times in the three PHOTO COURTESY JERALD INGRAM seasons before Ingram arrived with head coach Tom Coughlin in 2004, but only four times in the next three years after Ingram taught him ball security. Not coincidentally, Barber earned Pro Bowl honors in all three seasons. While Ingram was in Jacksonville (1995-2002), the Jaguars were the only NFL team to rush for more than 2,000 yards in each season from 1998-2000, including an NFL-high 2,091 yards in 1999. Under Ingram's direction, run- ning back Fred Taylor rushed for more than 1,200 yards three times, including a team-record 1,399 yards in 2000. Coaching in the NFL is a blessing, for at least 1,000 yards under his tu- telage from 2006-10 — Tiki Barber, Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward and 100 THE WOLVERINE APRIL 2012 Ingram said, but it took a nudge from Schudel — maybe even a push — to get him to leave his comfort zone at Ball State. Ingram was content when Coughlin, coming off his own stint as an NFL position coach, called Schudel in search of an assistant coach to fol- low him to Boston College. "He told me Tom was a great in- dividual — like Bo, a hard-working guy," Ingram recalled. "He told me to take that chance, and it's been good ever since. Tom is the model of how we want to try to win here, working with the history and tradition here in the New York Giants' way. "Bo had that General, father-figure- type toughness, and that's like Tom. Class, dedication to people, persis- tence … the whole coaching ethic starts from the top and goes from there. He's a hands-on man. He's an old school guy with old school ways, and he's tough but he's fair, and prob- ably one of the most misunderstood people in America — at least he was for years. Nothing is personal. He tries to make everybody better, and he always tries to make himself better. "Bo was the same way. There's nothing they would expect everybody else to do that they wouldn't try to do themselves." Ingram found that out as a fresh- man in 1979, getting his feet wet at fullback before becoming a regular contributor in 1980 on a Big Ten title and Rose Bowl championship team. He adapted well as the son of a mili- tary father, used to the discipline and