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Indiana legend Bill Mallory dies at 83

Mallory is Indiana’s all-time winningest coach and, by all accounts, the finest gentleman to grace the sidelines of any sport in Bloomington.

By Alex Robbins
Bill Mallory Indiana

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:

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