William Renner William Clark Renner ( born c . 1912 ) was an American football player . He played at the quarterback position for the University of Michigan teams from 1931 to 1935 . He was a member of the undefeated national champion 1933 Michigan football team also the captain of the 1935 Michigan football team . University of Michigan . Renner was a native of Youngstown , Ohio . He enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1930 where he was on the football roster for parts of five seasons from 1931 to 1935 . Injuries and illnesses prevented kept Renner out of the lineup in 1931 and 1932 . He was one of the lightest players on the team at 165 pounds and six feet tall , and he developed a reputation as " a ' fragile ' athlete . " 1933 season . Following the graduation of Michigan ' s Hall of Fame quarterback Harry Newman , Renner was expected to be Michigan ' s starting quarterback in 1933 . At the beginning of the 1933 football season , the Associated Press reported that Renner had the talent to be a better quarterback than either of Michigan ' s great quarterbacks , Newman and Benny Friedman . The AP noted : " Western Conference coaches whose football teams will battle Michigan this Fall have passed out word that they fear Bill Renner , of Youngstown , O . , quarterback candidate , will be another Harry Newman ' or even worse . ' . . . Observers who saw Ben Friedman and Newman throughout their forward passing careers at Michigan maintain that Renner is the best ball tosser the Maize and Blue ever had . " Renner won the starting quarterback job in 1933 , and expectations ran high as reflected in the following newspaper profile : " A slender youth from Youngstown , Ohio who specializes in throwing a pigskin to exactly the right place at exactly the right time is the center of attention on Michigan ' s 1933 team . . . . Kipke again has an ' ace in the hole , ' an undercover star , to make Wolverine fans forget Bennie Friedman and Harry Newman . Renner throws long ones and short ones , high ' soft ' ones and the other kind that go with baseball speed . He heaves them backing up or running toward the sidelines , all with deadly accuracy and timing . " Renner ' s playing time was again limited in 1933 due to injuries and illness , and he started only one game for the Wolverines . In the 1933 Michigan - Ohio State game , played before the largest crowd to see a Big Ten Conference football game to that date , Renner came into the game at the end of the first half and ran the ball for a game - winning touchdown . An Associated Press story described Renner ' s impact in the scoring drive against Ohio State : " When he finally trotted out on the gridiron , the consternation of the Buckeyes was obvious to the 93 , 508 spectators . The defensive halfbacks backed away from the line , the center and fullback retreated and rubbed their hands , the linemen raised their heads . " Renner led the Wolverines from midfield and , with the ball at the three - yard line , Renner " rolled around tackle for the touchdown that made it Michigan ' s afternoon . " 1934 season . After the 1933 season , Renner developed appendicitis and was again forced to leave school . By the fall of 1934 , most of the players with whom Renner had entered the university in 1930 ( Herman Everhardus , Chuck Bernard , and Whitey Wistert ) had graduated . Renner returned to Ann Arbor in September 1934 and was expected , finally , to be Michigan ' s starting quarterback . Michigan ' s offense in 1934 was sometimes referred to as " Punt , Pass and Prayer . " A September 1934 newspaper story described Renner ' s role in the system : " A punt , a pass and a prayer . By Harry Kipke ' s own words , that ' s all they have over there . But when it ' s a Regeczi punting , a Renner passing , and a typical Michigan squad of good ends , good tackles , good guards , and a great center ' preying ' , how are you going to stop them ? " However , Renner broke his ankle during the first Saturday practice scrimmage in the fall of 1934 and was unable to play in any games that year . Renner ' s repeated injuries and illnesses won the nickname " Hard Luck Bill . " Renner was teammates with John Regeczi and Gerald Ford , who later served as the U . S . President , on the Michigan teams from 1932 to 1934 . In a 1994 interview , Ford described the impact on the 1934 team of losing Renner to injury : " In ' 32 and ' 33 , we were undefeated , and then in ' 34 we had a tough , tough year . In those years , our offense was called a punt , a pass , and a prayer . We had an outstanding passer , Bill Renner , who broke an ankle before the season started . Our punter , John Regeczi , was the greatest college punter I ever saw and he ruined his knee . All we had left was the prayer . " The 1934 team finished with a 1 – 7 record . Ford was selected as the Most Valuable Player on the 1934 team . 1935 season . Despite the fact that he was unable to play a minute of football in 1934 , the Michigan team voted at the end of 1934 season to make Renner the captain of the 1935 team . During the 1935 season , Renner was Michigan ' s starting quarterback for all eight of its games . With Renner as captain , the team got off to a 4 - 1 start but finished the season with three straight losses ( to Illinois , Minnesota and Ohio State ) in which the Wolverines were unable to score a point . Coach . In 1936 , Renner was hired as an assistant football coach under head coach Ducky Pond at Yale University . Renner was responsible for coaching Yale ' s backs in passing and kicking . In 1937 , Renner and his former Michigan teammate Gerald Ford were charged with coaching Yale ' s junior varsity football team .