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Former Indiana University football coach Bill Mallory died on Friday of complications from brain surgery. He was 83.
Before becoming a coach, Mallory played at Miami University for both Ara Parseghian and John Pont
Mallory, the winningest coach in school history, came to Indiana in 1984 and went 0-11 in his first season at the helm. But shortly thereafter, Mallory’s Hoosiers were the best the program had ever seen. From 1986 to 1994, his teams went to six bowl games, racking up 60 of the 69 wins accumulated during his career.
Mallory was named Big Ten Coach of the Year in 1986 and 1987, making him the first man to ever win the award in back-to-back seasons. In 1989, he coached Anthony Thompson to the Maxwell Award and a runner-up finish in the Heisman voting. And Mallory’s 1988 team, which walloped South Carolina in the Independence Bowl, was the last at Indiana to win a bowl game or to finish ranked in the Top-25 of either the Coaches’ or AP polls.
But for all of Mallory’s on-field successes, the man’s character is for what he is most revered in southern Indiana and beyond:
Praying for one of the best men I’ve ever known. He helped mold thousands of young men through the game of football. He’s had a lasting impact on my life and countless others. Integrity, toughness, and hard work only begins to describe Bill Mallory. @IUHoosiers @BigTen @NCAA https://t.co/9nCeSYIm50
— Trent Green (@trentgreen10) May 24, 2018
Indiana has never had a better man, coach or representative than Bill Mallory. Really, it's not even close.
— Pete DiPrimio (@pdiprimio) May 24, 2018
My favorite Bill Mallory moment wasn’t even in the IU locker room. https://t.co/cs8Lkt0kkL
— Jake Query (@jakequery) May 24, 2018
This is so sad. I love Bill Mallory. College coaches often treat student journalists like gum stuck on their shoe, or worse. (See Knight, Robert M.) But Mallory went out of his way to be kind and professional when I covered football for the Indiana Daily Student many years ago. https://t.co/svCEspv297
— Steve Beaven (@stevebeaven1) May 24, 2018
This is so sad. Bill Mallory was as gracious a leader and coach as any that I covered or worked with. What he did for football at Indiana was amazing. https://t.co/HTlyqjyaSF
— David DeCamp (@DaveDeCamp) May 24, 2018