Gary Moeller dies at 81

[matt1]

Former Michigan Wolverines football head coach Gary Moeller has died at 81 years old. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Moeller

[moldyoldie]

Shoulda been hired as permanent head coach of Lions, but Millen was an...well, never mind.
That infamous drunken episode was a big black mark.

RIP

[Honeyman]

Can any of you Wolvies confirm the story of what went down? I heard Les Miles was drilling his wife, so he got drunk and got the DUI in Detroit. He got canned and Carr replaced him, but always hated Miles for that and essentially blocked him from coaching UM and then DickRod got the job. Is that accurate?

"Scabdal" aside, I remember him as a great football coach who played an exciting game. Lie-downs never should have fired him, but.....Matt Millen.

[Matt]

Can any of you Wolvies confirm the story of what went down? I heard Les Miles was drilling his wife, so he got drunk and got the DUI in Detroit. He got canned and Carr replaced him, but always hated Miles for that and essentially blocked him from coaching UM and then DickRod got the job. Is that accurate?

"Scabdal" aside, I remember him as a great football coach who played an exciting game. Lie-downs never should have fired him, but.....Matt Millen.

First off, RIP Gary Moeller. He was the first Michigan coach that I remember watching. He got fucked over both at Michigan and with the Lions.

The Miles thing is something that has been around for a long time. I've never definitively heard of it was true. Moeller got arrested at a restaurant in Southfield - he didn't get a DUI that I'm aware of. His son Andy did when he was an assistant for Lloyd. Lloyd wanted one of his guys, probably Hole or Loeffler, to get the job. When that was clearly not going to happen, he was on RR's side for 30 seconds.

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

First, RIP to Moeller.

I do think it all worked out. The Lloyd Carr era was pretty damn good if you think about it.

[Matt]

First, RIP to Moeller.

I do think it all worked out. The Lloyd Carr era was pretty damn good if you think about it.

Moeller recruited the majority of the impact players on the 97 team. He never should have been fired, but I do understand that Joe Roberson wanted him to seek treatment for alcohol abuse, which he apparently refused.

[CurlyHoward]

Still can't believe Millen fired him in favor of Marty "we'll take the wind in overtime" MORONweg. You'd have think he'd have gotten another shot in either the NFL or college as a head coach but apparently his last gig was as linebackers coach for the Bears? Wow.

[Matt]

Great column by Mitch, of all people: https://www.freep.com/story/sports/colu ... 035098002/

[craig11152]

My memory is that Les Miles not Gary Moeller was the guy allegedly banging somebody's wife.

[MasterB]

RIP Gary Moeller.

[craig11152]

I remember listening to the Bo Schembecher memorial on the radio back in 2006 (WJR?).
Somebody stuck a microphone in Moeller's face for some comments and he sounded drunk to me that day.

[MWmetalhead]

Correct; the rumor is Miles was banging Moeller's wife.

If Mo refused alcoholic's counseling, then his firing from U-M was absolutely deserved.

As usual, Albom dodged discussing the juicier aspects of the saga, which frankly, makes Albom's article rather useless. His article is filled with puffery and probably utter bullshit in places. Albom has no fucking idea if Moeller would've been willing to discuss the dangers of alcoholism with the team, yet Albom acts as if that would've been a certainty.

It's a typical Albom piece - high scores on style; weak scores on objectivity.

If the affair rumor is true, then I certainly do have quite a bit of sympathy for the hand Moeller was dealt.

The firing from the Lions was the more controversial of the two firings, in my opinion. He seemingly did a decent job cleaning up the mess Bobby Ross left him. He should've been brought back for a full season the following year.