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Bill Mallory, football coach at Indiana and Colorado
Bill Mallory was first to win Big 10 coach of the year a-wards in consecutive years. (Associated Press)
By Michael Marot
Associated Press

Bill Mallory, who led Colorado to the Orange Bowl and became the winningest football coach in Indiana history, has died from a brain injury suffered in a recent fall. He was 82.

Mr. Mallory went 69-77-3 and took Indiana to six bowls from 1984-96. Indiana has only played in 11 bowl games in its history. His blunt assessments and earthy phrases made him a favorite around Bloomington, Ind., where he was perfect complement to basketball coach Bob Knight.

In 1987, Mr. Mallory became the first to win the Big Ten’s coach of the year award in consecutive years. He was 168-129-4 overall as a head coach with stops at Miami (Ohio), his alma mater, Colorado and Northern Illinois.

At Colorado, Mr. Mallory’s team won a share of the Big Eight championship in 1976 and reached the Orange Bowl, where the Buffaloes lost Ohio State. But he was fired two seasons later after going 35-21-1 over five years.

‘‘A hard-nosed tough coach, who demanded that toughness from his players,’’ said Brian Cabral, who played for Mr. Mallory at Colorado. ‘‘I have all the respect for instilling that in me.’’

Mr. Mallory was raised in Sandusky, Ohio, and went on to become a star two-way player for Hall of Fame coach Ara Parseghian at Miami. He later coached under Woody Hayes at Ohio State before returning to Miami for his first head coaching job. He went 39-12 at Miami, including an 11-0 Mid-American Conference championship team in 1973.

That helped land him the Colorado job. He landed back in the MAC with Northern Illinois in 1980 and after going 10-2 in 1983 he took over at Indiana.