Hercules Renda

Hercules Gennaro Renda (September 5, 1917 – October 12, 2005) was an American football player and coach. He played for the University of Michigan football team from 1937 to 1939. He was an assistant football coach at Michigan under Fritz Crisler from 1940 to 1941. He later served as a high school football and track coach in Pontiac, Michigan for many years and was inducted into the Michigan High School Coaches Hall of Fame.

Early years Renda was named after Hercules Powder, depicted here in a 1918 advertisement. A native of West Virginia born to Italian immigrant parents, Renda grew up in Cabin Creek in the state's coal country. He was named after a brand of mining dynamite ("Hercules Dynamite" and "Hercules Powder") that was popular among West Virginia coal miners at the time.

Renda became a star athlete at East Bank High School in East Bank, West Virginia. During the summers, he worked as a "tippler" at the coal mine. In November 1935, the Gazette called him "stocky Hercules Renda, a fast stepping but nevertheless rugged halfback, who has been running wild all season." (Twenty years later, NBA Hall of Famer Jerry West attended East Bank High; West was nicknamed "Zeke from Cabin Creek".)

University of Michigan Two University of Michigan alumni, Lon Barringer and Rocco Gorman, recruited Renda and his high school teammate, Joe Savilla, to play football for the Michigan Wolverines. Renda and Savilla both enrolled at the University of Michigan. The Michigan Daily depicted the two West Virginia recruits as something of an odd pair—Renda was a 5-foot, 4 inch halfback, and Savilla was a 6-foot, 4 inch tackle. Despite his small size (5 feet 4 inches and 152 pounds), Renda played for Michigan's freshman team in 1936 and for the varsity team from 1937 to 1939. His performance on the freshman team in 1936 was summed up as follows: "On the offense he runs like a frightened deer and is deathly with his tackles while on defense."

Press coverage of Renda often focused on his short stature, and often referred to him as the "midget" from West Virginia. An Associated Press story in 1937 reported that Renda was "just about the shortest first-string football player in the U.S." but noted that he "travels with the power of a tank."

Michigan coach Fritz Crisler called Renda the "greatest football player in America for his height."

World War II With the entry of the United States into World War II, Renda joined the U.S. Army and reported to Fort Custer Training Center in December 1942. In June 1942, he was transferred to the U.S. Army Air Corps and sent to Miami, Florida, for training as an officer and physical instructor.

High school coaching career After the war, Renda had a long career as a high school football coach. He coached at Flint Central High School. From 1948 to 1951, he was the head football coach at Pontiac High School in Pontiac, Michigan. Renda's teams won 18 games, lost 25 and tied 2 during his five years at Pontiac High School. Renda told reporters in March 1953 that he had been fired by the school board for objecting to its "win-or-else" policy. Renda later returned to the Pontiac schools as head track coach and assistant football coach at Pontiac Northern High School until his retirement in 1982. A few years after his death in 2005, a local paper wrote: "Herk spent more than five decades in Pontiac helping students as a coach, administrator and just being the ultimate good neighbor. Since his passing a couple years ago, the world hasn't quite been as good a place. Everybody who knew Herk will tell you that."