V-12 College Training Program: College Football During WWII

November, 29 2023

Today’s transfer portal has created a trend where player mobility is at an all-time high. Teams can quickly re-build with incoming players or become demolished with the loss of outgoing talent in short order.

This is not the first instance where large numbers of players found themselves moving from one school to another. For far different reasons, the 1940s also had a situation where also-ran programs became dominate and others suffered from the loss of key players.

During World War II, the U.S. Navy created a program to train officers called the V-12 College Training Program. Scattered throughout the county, 131 schools participated in the program to train men to become Marine and Naval officers.

Once enrolled, you could transfer from your current school to a university that sponsored the V-12 training. Some 125,000 students participated in the program, including notables such as Robert Kennedy, Johhny Carson, Jack Lemmon, Paul Newman, and Sam Peckinpaugh. Where you were sent was determined by the location of your originating school, and sometimes where your name fell in the alphabet.

The 1942 Illinois Fighting Illini roster included Hall of Famer Alex Agase and halfback Jules Rykovich. As Agase’s name fell in the first half of the alphabet he was sent to Purdue for the ’43 season. With his name in the back half of the alphabet, Rykovich went to Notre Dame. With the Irish, Rykovich scored eight touchdowns as Notre Dame went from a 7-2-2 team in 1942 to national champions in 1943.

Purdue’s transformation was even more remarkable. With Agase and Tony Butkovich, who placed ninth in the Heisman voting, coming over from Illinois, the Boilermakers went from a 1-8 team in ’42 to an undefeated season in 1943.

During the Illinois contest that season, Purdue led the Illini 34-7 after three quarters. With the game well in hand, Boiler coach Elmer Burnham benched his starters. Agase asked Burnham if he could go across the field to the Illini sidelines to visit with his former teammates. The coach agreed, but two quick Illinois touchdowns saw Burnham waving frantically across the field for Alex to “Come back!”

Numerous small schools rose to prominence as V-12 schools. With V-12 enrollees, Colorado College, and Southwest Louisiana (known today as the University of Louisiana) had undefeated seasons with CC finishing the season as a ranked team and the Ragin’ Cajuns appearing in the Oil Bowl thanks to the transfer of All-America LSU halfback Alvin Dark. Dark went on to a World Series winning career as both a shortstop and manager.

The most famed V-12 squad was the 1943 Michigan Wolverines. In 1942, Wisconsin was the nation’s third ranked team, but 11 Badgers including Hall of Famer Elroy Hirsch became Michigan Wolverines in 1943. Without these players Wisconsin had a 1-9 season in 1943. The impact of the transfers to Michigan is reflected in their starting lineup where only one player of 11 was not related to military service. In a takeoff of Franklin Roosevelt’s program to provide

aid to other Allied nations, Hirsch and his Badger teammates became known as the “Lend Lease Badgers.” The Wolverines would also have an undefeated conference record and share the Big Ten title with Purdue.