PHOTO: Jim Bibbs with Herb Washington (L) and Marshall Dill (R).

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Thomas Shanahan | @Thomas-Shanahan-23

Watch our documentary development trailer: Game Changers

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By TOM SHANAHAN

In honor of Michigan State Hall of Fame coach Jim Bibbs, I’m reposting this Youtube link that was Episode 36 of THE END GAME. My co-host Herman Bulls and I recorded the podcast in July 2025 with two Michigan State pioneers, Bibbs and Jimmy Raye.

Bibbs died on Saturday at age 97. His death was announced by his son, Andy Wells. Bibbs was 96 at the time the podcast was recorded.

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The End Game Episode 36 – YouTube

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Bibbs was Michigan State’s first Black coach when athletic director Biggie Munn hired him as an assistant coach in 1968. He was later named the head coach in a career that influenced generations of track stars. His Hall of Famers included Herb Washington, Marshall Dill, Randy Smith and 1984 Olympic silver medalist Judi Brown. Bibbs coached the Spartans from 1968 until retirememt in 1995.

Raye was the South’s first Black quarterback to win a national title and went on to a long coaching career at Michigan State under Duffy Daugherty and in the NFL.

Raye and Bibbs shared their pride in their pride in the pioneering careers of both men.

I’m so glad we were able to record these legends together for posterity.

Click here for more episodes of THE END GAME:

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 invite you to follow me on Twitter @shanny4055

NOTE: All facts cited in this story were researched by me as part of writing “RAYE OF LIGHT, Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the Integration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans” and “The RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s.”

I’ll put my facts on the true pioneers of college football integration versus Bear Bryant fairytales against anybody, anytime, anywhere. Watch here.

Click here for my first-place FWAA story on the 1962 Rose Bowl, Segregation and Alabama.

— Tom Shanahan is an award-winning sportswriter with two books on college football integration, “RAYE OF LIGHT, Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the Integration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans,” and “THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s.” They are the most accurate accounts of college football integration in the 1950s and 1960s. They also debunk myths about the 1970 USC-Alabama game. The false narrative co-opted the stories of the true pioneers who stood up to Jim Crow and the KKK.

— Two children’s books also explain Michigan State College Football Hall of Fame coach Duffy Daugherty’s impact on integration through the Underground Railroad and the Hawaiian Pipeline: “DUFFY’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD” and “HOW DUFFY PUT HAWAII ON AMERICA’S FOOTBALL MAP.”

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PURCHASE LINKS, non-fiction books

— RAYE OF LIGHT, August Publications or on Amazon.

— THE RIGHT THING TO DO, August Publications or on Amazon.

PURCHASE LINKS, children’s books

— DUFFY’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, Order from Barnes and Noble here and Amazon here. 

— HOW DUFFY PUT HAWAII ON AMERICA’S FOOTBALL MAP, coming soon on Barnes and Noble and Amazon.