RIP Bill Mallory

Submitted by S.G. Rice on

Former MIami (NTM), Colorado, Northern Illinois and Indiana football coach Bill Mallory passed away today at the age of 82.  Mallory is the all-time leader in wins at Indiana and spent 13 years coaching the Hoosiers.

 

Notable to Michigan fans for having sons Mike, Doug and Curt, all of whom played football in Ann Arbor.  Mike and Doug Mallory were team captains.  Curt Mallory also spent 3 seasons as an assistant coach.

RamblerRobotics

May 25th, 2018 at 7:26 PM ^

I’ll always have a place in my heart for the NIU Huskies growing up an hour or so east of DeKalb. Bill Mallory wasn’t here long but he won us our first conference championship and the program’s first bowl game.

rob f

May 25th, 2018 at 7:26 PM ^

I believe he is the winningest football coach in IU history.

Even more importantly, he was a winning Dad, having sent 3 sons to Michigan, both to play school and to play for the Maize and Blue.

WolverineHistorian

May 25th, 2018 at 9:59 PM ^

Well, his teams usually played us tough for about a half before we would run away with the game in the second half. 1-10 record against Michigan with 7 of the 10 losses by 24 or more points.

His one win over us in '87 came courtesy of them falling on a blocked punt in the end zone in a driving rainstorm for the 14-10 win. They were the only Big Ten team to play us close in '91 (Desmond's Heisman season) and in his final year in 1996, they played us to a 27-20 loss. Woodson scored on a 65 yard touchdown reverse in that one. But I do remember fans having a huge meltdown on the radio afterwards because we only won by 7.

Mallory's teams had better success against the Buckeyes than against us. His squads pounded OSU 31-10 at the Horsehsoe in '87 and then beat them again the following year 41-7. He tied them 27-27 in 1990 and had some close calls; 2 four point losses, a 2 point loss and a 6 point loss.

He and Bo were good friends. Though, Bo was friends with pretty much all the conference coaches...unless your name was Mike White.

xtramelanin

May 25th, 2018 at 9:22 PM ^

at school. i was closest to mike a very talented, if undersized, linebacker for us. i have always rooted for them.  sorry to hear about this.  from all i know bill mallory was a super guy. 

markusr2007

May 25th, 2018 at 10:16 PM ^

Had they beaten MSU in East Lansing that year,  and all else the same, they probably would have.

They blasted No. 9 Ohio State in Columbus and also beat No. 20 Michigan in Bloomington that year - a feat that was still unthinkable in that era.

Indiana had no business being good at football. But they were and that's because Mallory was a great coach, and a kickass recruiter as well.

He is most famous for his post-MSU game locker room speech to the '88 Rose Bowl-bound Spartans, imploring them to kick the ass of whoever they would play (ultimately USC). The Spartans complied.

https://youtu.be/3zctViBi6QQ

 

RIP Coach! Condolences to the Mallory family.

NittanyFan

May 25th, 2018 at 10:31 PM ^

Anthony Thompson -- very good college RB.  Finished 2nd to Andre Ware in the 1989 voting.  It was a close loss, lost by about 70 points.  

I was pretty young at the time, but I definitely thought Thompson deserved it. 

Ware was good.  But a lot of his stats was (1) defenses still learning to react to the run-and-shoot, and (2) Houston blatantly running up the score to get Ware his stats (he had 5 games with at least 5 TDs; Houston won all those games by at least 45 points each, including a 95-21 (!!!) win over SMU).

You are right, 1987 was their year.  That rare chance at Pasadena.  Their first win vs. OSU in 31 years and they broke that streak with a romp (31-10) in Columbus no less.  Just couldn't get that mid-November win at MSU (they lost 27-3, it was a pretty decisive game).