July 23, 2008

OXFORD, Ohio - Miami University announced today that it will honor six members of its legendary Cradle of Coaches at its football home contests in 2008, with each individual appearing within a collectible series of actual game tickets. The special commemorative ticket stock will only be available to those who purchase season tickets.

PAUL BROWN, JOHN PONT, BILL MALLORY, ARA PARSEGHIAN, BILL ARNSPARGER and WOODY HAYES will be honored this season and each of the three living legends--Mallory, Parseghian and Arnsparger--will be special guests of the university.

Miami will continue honoring Cradle members on its tickets and at games in 2009 and 2010, and will create special commemorative season tickets for those seasons as well.

Miami's PAUL BROWN will be saluted during ceremonies at the home opener versus Vanderbilt on August 28, just a few days prior to the 100th anniversary of his birth (September 7). Brown, who lettered in 1928 and '29, went on to National Football League (NFL) immortality with the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals. He died in 1991.

The memory of former Miami player (1949-51) and head coach (1956-62) JOHN PONT will be honored at the second game on September 13 against Charleston Southern. Pont, who passed away on July 1, won College Football Coach of the Year laurels in 1967 when he led Indiana to its only appearance in the Rose Bowl game.

The special guest on October 4 for the Temple game will be BILL MALLORY, a Miami letter winner from 1954-56 and the school's head coach from 1969-73. Mallory's '73 squad, which recorded a perfect 11-0 record, will gather for a 35th anniversary reunion at Yager Stadium. Joining Mallory will be several players from the time he coached in Oxford. Mallory also coached at Colorado, Northern Illinois and Indiana. His all-time collegiate coaching record was 165-121-4.

At the RedHawks' game on October 25 versus Kent State, Miami will honor former player (1946-47) and head coach (1951-55) ARA PARSEGHIAN. The 85-year-old member of the College Football Hall of Fame directed his five Miami teams to a record of 39-6-1. Parseghian, who also coached at Northwestern and Notre Dame, led the Fighting Irish to national championships in 1966 and 1973. He was College Football Coach of the Year in 1964.

Former Miami player BILL ARNSPARGER (1948-49) will be the university's special guest at the RedHawks' November 11 game against Ball State. Arnsparger was the architect of the Miami Dolphins' famed "No-Name Defense", helping coach Don Shula's 1972 squad to the NFL's only perfect season. Arnsparger served as head coach of the NFL's New York Giants and also at Louisiana State University. Later, as athletic director at Florida, he hired Steve Spurrier to coach the Gators.

At Miami's season finale on November 28, the school will honor the memory of WOODY HAYES. During his two seasons in Oxford as Miami's head coach (1949-50), MU posted a record of 14-5. His 1950 team won the Mid-American Conference title and beat Arizona State to win the Salad Bowl. In 1951, Hayes was named head coach at Ohio State and he went on to lead the Buckeyes to three national championships (1954, '57 and '68) and 13 Big Ten titles. Hayes was selected as College Football Coach of the Year in 1957, '68 and '75.

Just more than five weeks remain until Miami's 2008 football campaign begins on August 28 against Southeastern Conference foe Vanderbilt. The rest of Miami's home schedule finds Charleston Southern (Sept. 13), Temple (Oct. 4), Kent State (Oct. 25), Ball State (Nov. 11) and Ohio (Nov. 28) coming to Oxford.

To obtain this special commemorative ticket piece, call the ticket office today at 1-866-MU-HAWKS (684-2957) or 529-HAWK. Season tickets are $99.

--www.MURedHawks.com--