A coach who made his mark at college and professional football levels has passed away.
Gary Moeller, best known as the head football coach at the University of Michigan between 1990 and 1994, died on Monday. He was 81. The Detroit Free Press reported that details surrounding his death were not immediately available, but according to a Facebook post by former U of M play-by-play broadcaster Jim Brandstatter, Moeller had been in ill health for several years.
Moeller worked as a longtime assistant coach under Bo Schembechler in two stints and was chosen by Schembechler as his successor upon his retirement after the 1989 season. He was also the interim head coach for the NFL's Detroit Lions for part of one season.
Born in Lima, Ohio, Moeller played college football at Ohio State University under Woody Hayes. After graduating, he coached high school football in Ohio for four years, then joined Schembechler's staff at Miami of Ohio in 1967. When Schembechler was named head coach at Michigan in 1969, Moeller moved with him, working his way up to defensive coordinator.
The coach left Michigan after the 1976 season to take the head coaching job at Illinois. After being fired following three poor seasons, Moeller returned to Michigan and served as a coordinator on both sides of the ball until Schembechler's retirement.
As a head coach, Moeller won or shared three Big Ten titles at Michigan in five years, and was named Big Ten College Football Coach of the Year in 1992 and 1993. Moeller resigned as coach in May 1995 following an arrest for assaulting a police officer, and drunk and disorderly conduct at a Detroit-area restaurant.
Moeller was hired by the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals later that year as a tight ends coach, then went to the Detroit Lions two years later as an assistant. When head coach Bobby Ross suddenly quit midway through the 2000 season, Moeller took over as head coach and got a 4-3 record but missed the playoffs. The Lions did not retain him and he took assistant coaching jobs with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears before leaving the game in 2003.
Moeller compiled a 50-37-6 record as a college coach, going 44-13-3 at Michigan.