The Daily Hoosier
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Bill Mallory Made His Mark Well Beyond Indiana

May 26, 2018 Mike Schumann IUFB 0

With the sad news that former Indiana University football coach passed away on Friday, memories began to flood in from all over the internet.  While Hoosier fans are well acquainted with Mallory’s successful run at the helm of the IU program, not as many are familiar with his many accomplishments along his path that led to Bloomington.

How many people knew that he was an assistant coach on a national championship team, was the head coach of a perfect season, that he won a Big Eight Conference title, and that he led a program to their first ever conference title?  This was all before he arrived in Bloomington, for 4 different programs.

Take a look back at Bill Mallory’s career, and how he is being remembered by his former schools today:

OHIO STATE

Mallory was a defensive assistant for Woody Hayes for three seasons from 1966-68.  The 1968 team went 10-0 and won the national championship with a Rose Bowl win over USC.

Mallory with his defensive unit at OSU. Photo credit – Ohio State Libraries.

MIAMI OF OHIO

Mallory, who played at Miami University in the 1950s, took his first head coaching job in Oxford.  He took over the Miami program in 1969.  He led Miami to a 39-12 record in five seasons, including an 11-0 campaign and Tangerine Bowl win in 1973.

Mallory is a member of Miami’s “Cradle of Coaches” that includes Paul Brown, Woody Hayes, Bill Arnsparger, Weeb Ewbank, Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler, John Pont, Jim Tressel, Randy Walker, John Harbaugh, Gary Moeller, Larry Smith, Terry Hoeppner, and Sean McVay.

COLORADO

At Colorado, Mallory’s team won a share of the Big Eight championship in 1976 and reached the Orange Bowl, where the Buffaloes lost to Ohio State.  He is one of only three head coaches to lead the University of Colorado to a title in its former conference, the Big Eight.

He was fired two seasons later despite going 35-21-1 over five years.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS

Bill Mallory spent four seasons leading the Huskie program from 1980 to 1983.  Prior to his arrival, NIU had experienced just two winning seasons in Division 1.  He led the 1980 Huskies to seven wins in his first season.

The 1983 NIU season was groundbreaking.  That 1983 team claimed a season-opening win at Kansas, NIU’s first over a Big Eight program.  They went on to an 8-1 record in the Mid-America Conference to claim the Huskies’ first D1 conference title.  NIU finished the season at 10-2 and capped it off with a 20-13 victory over Cal State Fullerton at the California Bowl.  It was the first ever D1 bowl appearance for the Huskies.

During Mallory’s four years at NIU, the Huskies won 57 percent of their games and had seven players drafted to the National Football League.

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