Miami football Freshman Will Mallory’s Legendary grandfather passes away

Miami football incoming Freshman tight end Will Mallory’s legendary grandfather Bill has passed away. Bill Mallory coached at four different schools over a 28-year career as a Head Coach at the then Division IA level.

Will’s history with Miami football dates to his father Mike being former Hurricanes All-American tight end Jeremy Shockey’s position coach with the New Orleans Saints. Mike is currently the assistant special teams’ coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Bill died on Friday a few days after suffering a fall in his home in Bloomington, Indiana. He never regained consciousness. He was 83.

Mike and his brothers Doug and Curt played against their father when they were at Michigan and he coached Indiana in the 1980s and 1990s. Doug is currently the Defensive Backs coach with the Atlanta Falcons. Curt is the Head Coach of FCS Indiana State.

Bill Mallory complied a record of 167-130-4 in his 28 seasons. He led ten of his teams to bowl games in an era when that meant something. Six of those bowl games were with Indiana.

The Hoosiers have only played in a Bowl game 11 times in school history. Indiana has a 3-8 record in bowl games. Two of those three wins came under Mallory. IU has not won a bowl game since Mallory left following the 1996 season. Their last Bowl win game in the 1991 Copper Bowl.

Will’s cousin Emily posted a tribute on Twitter that he reposted.

Mallory began his Head Coaching career at the other Miami in Oxford, Ohio in 1969. He posted a 39-12 record in five seasons. He led them to an 11-0 season in his final year in 1973. Miami won the Tangerine Bowl to cap off their perfect season.

Mallory left Oxford for the Boulder and the University of Colorado. He spent five seasons in Boulder compiling a record of 35-21. He led the Buffaloes to the 1977 Orange Bowl game where they lost to Ohio State. That was the first known connection the Mallory family had to the Miami Hurricanes.

Colorado played in the Bluebonnet Bowl and lost the following season. Mallory took the 1979 season off of coaching choosing to remain in Boulder on his small ranch farm according to CUBuffs.Com. Mallory returned to his Midwest roots taking over at Northern Illinois in 1980.

Related Story: New Miami Hurricanes TE Commit Mallory Comes From FB Family

He spent four seasons in DeKalb with a record of 25-19. His 1983 team finished 10-2 and won the California Bowl. Following that season he left for Indiana.

Current ESPN broadcaster Lee Corso replaced him at NIU. Corso previously coached at Indiana from 1973-82. Former Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Sam Wyche coached the Hoosier in 1983. They finished 3-8 before he left for the Bengals.

Will Mallory naturally considered Michigan. His mom is also graduate. He liked what he saw in Coral Gables and admired Miami Football Head Coach Mark Richt. He spoke with the Miami Herald about why he choose the U.

"“There was something about Miami…I like the coaches and the big city and smaller school. You really can’t beat being in Miami. It’s a pretty nice place to be living. And I’ve never heard anything bad about Coach [Mark] Richt — ever. ”"

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Playing his first game in AT&T Stadium will probably be emotional for the Hurricanes Freshmen. Coming from a legendary family in college football can create added pressure. Playing on the other side of the ball at a different UM should alleviate some of that.