ERIK “SOUP” CAMPBELL

Erik “Soup” Campbell is among the most prolific three-sport high school athletes to come out of Gary, Indiana. In football, he won the 1982 Post-Tribune All-Area scoring title with 114 points on 15 touchdowns, eight 2-point conversions and eight PAT kicks  - leading the Panthers with 1,599 yards of total offense as the first Gary school to make District 1 playoffs. Campbell was also a member of four consecutive Roosevelt state track championship teams (1981-1984), claiming the 110 High Hurdles title in 1984, finishing second in 1983 and starring on the state championship 400 relay team in 1984. He was also a starting point guard in basketball. He is in both the Indiana State Track and Football Halls of Fame.

Football is where Campbell later gained national recognition, beginning at Michigan (1984-1987) where he started 30 consecutive games as a defensive back for Hall of Fame Coach Bo Schembechler and remains the only player in program history to start all four secondary positions in a single season.

Campbell later returned to the University of Michigan as an assistant coach on Coach Lloyd Carr’s staff. His coaching resumé includes Bowling Green, University of Delaware, University of Connecticut, the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes, University of Iowa, Syracuse, Ball State and Navy.

The son of legendary Roosevelt track coach and 2023 GSHOF inductee John Campbell currently is the assistant wide receivers coach at Eastern Michigan. His more than 37 years of coaching include 18 in the Big Ten Conference. Erik Campbell is also the uncle of running backs coach John Miller of the 2025 NCAA National Champion Indiana University.