Gary Moeller, former Michigan and Lions coach, 81, has died
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Gary Moeller, who succeeded Bo Schembechler as Michigan’s coach and later led the Detroit Lions as interim coach, died, Monday. He was 81.
The University of Michigan announced his death, and no cause was provided.
Moeller was promoted from offensive coordinator to lead the Wolverines’ program, in 1990, and was 44-13-3 over five seasons.
“Gary Moeller was a great family man, great friend, great coach, and a man of integrity and high character,” Lloyd Carr, who succeeded Moeller as Michigan’s coach, said in a statement. “I admired him, I respected him and I loved him.”
The two-time Big Ten coach of the year won a conference championship in each of his first three years and had four bowl victories, including the 1993 Rose Bowl over Washington. He resigned, in May 1995, less than a week after he was arrested on charges stemming from a drunken outburst at a restaurant in suburban Detroit.
Moeller bounced back in his personal and professional life, becoming tight ends coach for the Cincinnati Bengals that same year. He went on to lead the Lions’ linebackers and was their interim coach, in 2000, after Bobby Ross quit midway through the season.
Moeller was 4-3 as Detroit’s interim coach and was perhaps a missed kick away from keeping his job. He was fired after Chicago’s Paul Edinger made a 54-yard field goal with two seconds left to lift the Bears to victory in the regular-season finale, knocking the Lions out of playoff contention.
“He also suffered bad breaks, and poor timing in his career,” former Michigan player and broadcaster Jim Brandstatter said. “But, you never heard Gary Moeller complain or make excuses. He was a class act. He was a good man.”
The Jacksonville Jaguars hired Moeller to be their defensive coordinator, in 2001, and he later coached the Bears’ linebackers for two seasons.
Moeller, who was from Lima, Ohio, played linebacker and was a captain for Woody Hayes at Ohio State. He was an assistant for Schembechler at Miami (Ohio) and joined him on his first staff at Michigan, in 1969.