Former Indiana University head football coach Bill Mallory passed away at the age of 82 on Friday. IU released quotes from former players, coaches, and other members of the Hoosier family:
“Coach Mal was respected like none other. Revered, in fact. The kind of respect and reverence that is earned through love and leadership. Not because of a title or being in a position of power. Rather it’s because he led with every fiber of his being along with his booming voice, his locked jaw and his whole heart.”
— Anthony Thompson, Indiana and College Football Hall of Fame Inductee“Coach Mallory is not the greatest coach in the history of IU Football because of all the games that he won. It is because of the kind of man that he was and the kind of person that he was in the hearts of his players. He did a tremendous job molding them into men. In my mind, he is and will always be what Indiana University Football is all about.”
— Tom Allen, Indiana Head Football Coach“The entire Indiana University family is deeply saddened by the passing of Bill Mallory. Bill was not only a Hall of Fame football coach, but also an extraordinary man who has had an immeasurable impact on countless individuals throughout the course of his career and life. Bill’s passion for the sport of football was matched only by his love of his players, his coaches, and most of all, his family. I feel extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to know him and his wonderful family. IU Athletics extends our heartfelt condolences to Ellie, Curt, Doug, Mike, Barbara and the entire Mallory family. Bill will be missed by many, but never forgotten.”
— Fred Glass, Indiana University Vice President and Director of Athletics“Indiana University is deeply saddened by the passing of Bill Mallory, IU’s winningest football coach and a true legend in the annals of Hoosier athletics. During his 13 years as coach, Bill helped elevate IU football to national prominence, guiding the team to seven winning seasons and six bowl game appearances, and he was the first coach to be awarded back-to-back Big Ten Coach of the Year honors. Bill was equally dedicated to the strong performance of IU’s student-athletes in the classroom and helping them achieve success past their playing days. And, as our fans are well aware, he remained heavily invested in the Hoosiers’ success well after his coaching tenure, routinely attending practices and exuding the same level of energy, excitement and passion for the team from the stands that he demonstrated while coaching on the sidelines. For many Hoosier fans, the name Bill Mallory will always be synonymous with IU football. He will be greatly missed, and our hearts go out to Coach Mallory’s family, friends, former players and all of those whose lives he touched.”
— Michael A. McRobbie, Indiana University President“It is never easy when loved ones leave us. Rest in peace, coach Mal. Words can’t express what you’ve meant to so many. Bill Mallory is the most humble person I have ever met, a true servant leader! Thank you Mallory Family for sharing Coach – he was simply the best! God bless.”
— Mark Hagen, Indiana Assistant Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line Coach“When asked to express my thoughts on Coach Mallory’s passing, I wrote down almost a full page before realizing that no one was going to print everything I wanted to say. So I boiled it down to this: I haven’t met a man in the coaching profession who handled himself more admirably than Bill did. He was humble in winning and he was nothing but class when his teams came up short. He was a tough and demanding coach, but beloved and admired by not only his players and his coaching staffs, but also by those coaches and players that he coached against. And despite his being let go at IU after 13 of the best years the football program has enjoyed in modern history, he remained a Hoosier and has done all that he could in support of football at Indiana University. We, who were blessed to work with and become friends with Bill and his family, cherish that friendship and mourn the loss of an Indiana Great.”
— Don Fischer, IU Radio Network“It’s a tragic loss. Coach Mallory meant so much to me as a player and as a person. I valued my time with him. It’s a big decision when you pick the university that you are going to play at and a lot of it has to do with the head coach and your belief in him and how he’s going to handle things. Coach Mallory lived up to everything I could have hoped for. He made me a better player and a better person. Those are formidable years and I can’t say enough good things about Bill Mallory – his loyalty, his integrity, his hard work and his perseverance. It’s a big loss. I’m one of the fortunate ones that got to know him and got to play for him. We kept up that relationship over the years, keeping up with him and following his boys in the coaching ranks and seen how they’ve all developed. It was a special relationship for me.”
— Trent Green, Indiana Athletics Hall of Fame Inductee“I’ve been blessed to have father figures in my life and Coach Mal was one of those men. I was just a skinny kid from New York and he believed in me. He told me he would make me a better person and player and he did that. He was a true example of what a man should be, inside and out. The world has lost a great man today. Heaven is going to be greater with him. I owe so much to him.”
— Adewale Ogunleye, Indiana Athletics Hall of Fame Inductee“Coach, you taught me how to hold my head high during a 0-11 season. You taught me how to fight back and kick every Big Ten team’s ass. Thank you for everything you taught me. Thank you for being my coach, boss, and friend. Most importantly thank you for the LOVE you shared with me and my family. You will be greatly missed.”
— Joe Huff, Indiana Football Hall of Fame Inductee“Bill Mallory may have been the best football coach of his generation. But more importantly to those of us who had the opportunity to be around him on a daily basis, he was the best friend and mentor you could ever have.”
— Bill Lynch, former Indiana Head Football Coach“What made Coach Mallory great was he found a way to be a great coach, and at the same time, a great dad. Working with his youngest child Curt made that very clear to me. He was loved by his children and his players. That made him a perfect coach.”
— Gerry DiNardo, former Indiana Head Football Coach“The term I always used for Bill’s IU years was he was the first since Bo McMillin to put a floor under Hoosier football – you could count on a mid-league finish, sometimes better, sometimes a little below, with a good chance at a bowl trip. More than his successes and the one-year sweep over Ohio State and Michigan, what stood out to me, and what still exists, is the bond between him and his players. Not just here. Internet has provided a link for “Mal Men” fraternities at all four colleges where he was a head coach. I really don’t know of a parallel to the way that whole group bonds, shares pretty much identical stories, and reveres the coach they shared. There are a lot of centers of sadness in college football today.”
— Bob Hammel, Indiana Athletics, Indiana Basketball and Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame Inductee“Bill Mallory is the reason I am at Indiana University today. After my playing career at IU was over I coached at five different colleges for 16 years. Bill Mallory brought me home. I was excited to join a Head Coach and a coaching staff that I admired and watched from afar . I immediately could see the rapport that Coach Mal had with his players. I also could see the respect and love that they had for him. Bill Mallory not only won more games than any coach in IU history, but he did it the right way. Bill Mallory treated everyone with respect from the President of the University to the guy who cut the grass on the practice field . Everyone he touched felt the same way. The best way to describe Coach Mal was that he was “Genuine “. The Indiana Football Family is better off because we were honored by his presence; not only for his 13 years as Head Coach, but also for his 20 years of support as “Coach emeritus”. College Football is better off having Bill Mallory as an example for what is good with the sport . I am proud to be an Indiana Mallory Man.”
—Mark Deal, former Indiana Football Player, Assistant Coach and current I-Men Association President“One thing I will always cherish is, I’ll be a Mal man for life. He taught me many things during our three-and-half decades of friendship – how to navigate my life, how to be a man, how important family and how to express loyalty.”
— Joe Smith, IU Radio Network“I had the honor and privilege of working with Coach Mallory for14 years – but I’m most proud of the fact that we remained good friends after his coaching days. It has been a true blessing for anyone who spent time with him or been around him because he made everyone a better person. One of the greatest men and one of greatest families I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing. We will miss him – but I will hang on to the memories of all the great times we spent together! And to Ellie, Barb, Mike, Doug and Curt – love all you guys!”
— Kit Klingelhoffer, former Indiana Sports Information Director“It’s obviously a sad day for NIU football and for Indiana football, where I played for Coach Mallory. If you judge a man’s success by how many lives you’ve affected, he had a great life, because he affected so many people in a positive way on and off the field. My parents trusted Coach Mallory with me as a boy, and he gave me back to them as a man, and I’ll be forever grateful for the lessons I learned playing for him. That was probably his greatest attribute was how he helped individuals grow, forced them to grow, and that’s something I carry on in my coaching career.”
— Rod Carey, Northern Illinois Head Football Coach (Indiana ’93)“Today we lost one of the icons of College football. He was a second father to 1000’s of young men. A big part of who and what I am is a direct reflection of this man and what he stood for. He will always hold a very special place in my heart. I love you Coach!”
— Larry McDaniel, former Indiana Assistant Football Coach and Team Captain (Indiana ’93)“When it is all said and done, the goal is to have impacted someone’s life. Coach Mallory impacted so many in more ways than anyone could imagine. He was the standard for how to live. The picture of hard work, honesty, and loyalty. Coach Mal was simply the best.”
— Matt Canada, former Indiana Assistant Football Coach and Player (Indiana ’93)“Bill Mallory was a coach’s coach. Whenever you talked to people and you said you coached for Bill Mallory, everybody, EVERYBODY respected Bill Mallory. He did things the right way, he was honest, he was caring, he was tough, he was a family man. You talk to any of his players and they have such respect for him to this day.
“I remember, one of the first years we were at Northern, we went and watched the Bears practice. There were three or four Colorado grads on the Bears at the time, who had played for Coach Mallory. We were trying to be inconspicuous, and after practice they came over to him and you could see the respect they had for him, as did the kids at Northern, at Indiana and at Miami.
“He was tough. He pushed you. He made you work. He was a tough, tough guy but you always knew … he had a heart of gold. He was a softie, really, with a tough crust. Just an ideal coach, a great man to look up to, and he straightened me out a couple times, which I was thankful for.
“Sometimes when I was talking to the teams at Northern [as head coach], I’d hear Bill Mallory come out of my mouth and I said, you know, that’s OK.
“He was a guy that if you were the president of the United States or you were the janitor, you got treated the same. From the secretaries, equipment, athletic trainers, you name it, he cared about people, he included people, and I tried to do the same thing. Everybody was important and he made sure everyone on the team knew that everyone was important. He always cared and thought about everyone, and appreciated everyone, and everyone felt like a part of his team because of the way he treated them.
“And he had a great helper in his wife Ellie, they were a great model for young coaches.”
— Joe Novak, Indiana Defensive Coordinator, 1984-95; NIU Head Football Coach 1996-2007
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