Ohio State Announces Celebration Of Life For Earle Bruce

Legendary former Ohio State football coach Earle Bruce passed away on Friday at the age of 87. Right up until his death, Bruce remained close to the Buckeye program.

On Wednesday, Ohio State will hold a celebration of life honoring Bruce. It will take place at 10:30 p.m. ET at St. John Arena.

The ceremony will be one-hour long and is open to the general public. In addition to music by the OSU Marching and Athletic bands, a star-studded list of speakers is expected.

Longtime local sports anchor Dom Tiberi will serve as the emcee, with Urban Meyer and Jim Tressel speaking. They will be joined by Buckeye assistant coaches Tony Alford (who played for Bruce at Colorado State) and Zach Smith (who is Bruce's grandson).

WTVN announcer Matt McCoy, who spent more than two decades on the air with Bruce, will also speak.

Bruce was the head coach at Ohio State from 1979-87. In his tenure, he compiled an overall record of 81-26-1, including eight bowl berths and four Big Ten titles(two outright, and two shared).

Bruce was 0-2 in Rose Bowls with the Buckeyes but won the Fiesta, Liberty, Cotton, Holiday and Citrus once each. Ohio State finished in the top-10 three times under his leadership.

Bruce also coached Tampa, Iowa State, Northern Iowa and Colorado State during his career, racking up an overall record of 154-90-2.