Bovard graduated from Michigan in 1930 and served as an assistant football coach under Harry Kipke for the 1930 Michigan Wolverines football team.[6] He was employed as a high school football and basketball coach from 1931 to 1947.[7] He coached Lansing's J. W. Sexton High School basketball team to Michigan's Class A championship in the 1944–45 season and also coached the school's football team to the state Class A championship in 1946.[7][8]
Michigan Tech
In January 1947, Bovard was hired as the athletic director, head football coach and head of the physical education department at Michigan Technological University.[1][9] He served as the football coach from 1947 to 1956. In 1948, Bovard led the Michigan Tech Huskies football team to its first undefeated season, finishing the season with a 7–0 record and outscoring opponents 209 to 58.[1][10] He served as athletic director for 25 years and expanded Michigan Tech's athletic program into eleven varsity and seventeen intramural programs.[1][7] Bovard also served as the school's head basketball coach for two years, compiling a record of 19 wins and 14 losses.[7]
In October 1972, Bovard announced his retirement from Michigan Tech, effective December 31, 1972.[11]
Death and Hall of Fame inductions
In July 1983, Bovard died in Marquette, Michigan, where he had been hospitalized for several weeks.[7]
Bovard was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Hall of Fame in 1976 and the Michigan Tech Hall of Fame in 1985.[1][12]