On Saturday afternoon, legendary Cyclone coach Earle Bruce will stroll the sidelines of Jack Trice Stadium once again.

This time, he’ll only be a spectator.

“I’m excited about coming back,” Bruce said. “I have some good memories there.”

Bruce was head football coach at Iowa State from 1972 to 1978, winning Big Eight Conference Coach of the Year awards in both of his final two seasons. He led the Cyclones to 36 victories and two bowl games, including the 1977 Peach Bowl. Bruce now works as a senior football analyst for Ohio State on WTVN radio in Columbus, Ohio.

During the game Saturday, there will be a special ceremony involving Bruce and a few of his former players and coaches from the ’77 squad.

“I’m looking forward to seeing those guys,” he said.

In the 1977 season, the Cy-Hawk Trophy was introduced as the rivalry between Iowa and Iowa State was renewed for the first time since 1934. Cyclone players will be wearing throwback jerseys against Iowa on Saturday to commemorate the 30th anniversary of that team, with one small difference – this year’s version won’t read “BEAT IOWA” on the front, as they did in ’77.

“That was my idea, kind of a surprise,” Bruce said.

Bruce’s Cyclones came up short against the Hawkeyes, losing 12-10 in Iowa City.

“We played hard, but lost a tough ball game. Our kids wanted that win bad,” he said.

The ’77 team, led by ISU greats Ron McFarland, Tom Randall and Dexter Green, finished the season with an 8-3 record. Although the Cyclones beat Nebraska in Lincoln for the first time in 17 years, they would go on to lose to North Carolina State in the Peach Bowl.

“We didn’t play well in the Peach Bowl, but we had a really good football team,” Bruce said.

Bruce, who graduated from Ohio State in 1953, played halfback for Buckeyes coaching icon Woody Hayes in ’51 before tearing a ligament.

He never played again, but instead asked to become part of the coaching staff. The rest is history.

In 1978, Hayes was dismissed from the team after assaulting a Clemson player in the waning seconds of a loss. It was then that Bruce decided to leave the Cyclones to coach for his alma mater, but it wasn’t an easy decision.

“I hated to leave, to tell you the truth, because Iowa kind of grows on you,” Bruce said. “There are good people there. I went on and had a great career at Ohio State, but I still love Iowa State.”

Bruce compiled an 81-26-1 record in his nine seasons as head coach for the Buckeyes. His teams won or shared four Big 10 titles, and went to eight bowl games, including a one-point loss for the national championship to Southern California in the 1979 Rose Bowl.

In 2000, Bruce was elected into Iowa State’s Hall of Fame. Two years later, he was inducted in to the College Football Hall of Fame.

“It’s a great honor,” Bruce said. “You start thinking about that, and you think, ‘How in the hell am I getting in the Hall of Fame?’ You realize a lot of people, a lot of good coaches and a lot of good players is what got you there.”

Four players who played for Bruce are enshrined in the Iowa State Hall of Fame. Various coaches he has worked with have become successful.

The list includes Pete Carroll at USC, Nick Saban at Alabama and Glen Mason at Minnesota.

Drake coach Steve Loney also worked for Bruce, first as a graduate assistant at Iowa State in 1974, and then as an assistant head coach at Colorado State from ’89-’92.

“He got me excited about coaching,” Loney said. “His principles and what he believed was the importance of coach-player relationships.”

As important as Bruce was in the development of Loney as a coach, Loney believes Bruce was just as important in the development of the ISU program.

“I was very proud of him. I don’t know if grateful is the right word, but I always believed a great deal in Iowa State,” Loney said. “I think Earle [Bruce] is the Rock of Gibraltar for Iowa State. He’s a guy that got things going on a consistent basis.”

Tom Buck, a punt-return specialist on the ’77 team, remembers Bruce as a no-nonsense coach who expected, and got, everything he could out of his players and coaches.

“He was a hard-nosed coach who expected only the best,” Buck said. “He made winners out of us.”

Although Bruce saw many games on the sidelines as a coach, he’s looking forward to seeing Saturday’s game from the press box.