Former Seminole football coach Moss dies
He was not on the list.
Perry Moss, who was the head football coach at Florida State for one season in 1959 but whose coaching career spanned 50 years, died on Thursday at his home in Deltona, according to published reports.
Moss was 88.
Moss was named the Seminoles' coach and athletic director in 1959, becoming the program's fourth head coach after replacing Tom Nugent. Nugent left FSU to become the coach at Maryland.
Moss went 4-6 at FSU.
Moss left Tallahassee for north of the border, where he was the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League.
Moss later returned to the collegiate ranks for one season, going 0-9-1 as the head coach at Marshall.
Moss made his mark in the Arena Football League, coaching the Chicago Bruisers, Detroit Drive and the Orlando Predators.
He went 59–25 in Orlando in seven years before leaving the team in 1997.
Moss is a member of the Florida Sports Hall of Fame.
The Seminoles' program featured seven head coaches from 1947-75.
Ed Williamson (1947), Dr. Don Veller (1948-52) and Nugent (1953-58) preceeded Moss.
Bill Peterson (1960-7), Larry Jones (1971-73) and Darrel Mudra (1974-75) followed before Bobby Bowden took over the program in 1976,
Bowden led the Seminoles to unprecedented success and two national titles before being forced to retire after the 2009 season.
Jimbo Fisher, who led undefeated FSU to 14 wins and its third national title last year, is entering his fifth season.
Moss played tailback at the University of Tulsa and quarterback at Illinois during the 1940s. As a Tulsa tailback, he was on the Orange Bowl team that beat Georgia Tech, 26–12, in the 1945 Orange Bowl and later as an Illinois T-quarterback, he directed a Rose Bowl team which routed UCLA, 45–14, in 1947. Moss served two years in the United States Air Force between his playing time at Tulsa and Illinois. At Illinois, he was named to All-Big Ten Conference and All-American teams. He was drafted in 1948 by the Green Bay Packers in the 13th round (111th pick overall) and played at the professional level for one year before returning to Illinois as an assistant. He started one game at quarterback for the Packers.
Moss served as head baseball coach and backfield coach at the University of Miami in 1955 and University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1958. In 1959, he was named as the head football coach and athletic director at Florida State, and compiled a 4–6 record and later at Marshall University in 1968 where he compiled an 0–9–1 record before resigning in the wake of NCAA recruiting violations. Twenty-eight members of the 1969 Thundering Herd presented a petition to West Virginia Governor Arch A. Moore Jr. to reinstate Moss for 1970, but the university instead named 1969 interim coach Rick Tolley, known as a brutal disciplinarian, to the post permanently. The decision undoubtedly saved Moss' life, for Tolley, 37 players and 37 others perished on November 14, 1970 in the crash of Southern Airways Flight 932 following Marshall's loss at East Carolina.
Playing career
Football
1944 Tulsa Golden Hurricanes
1946–1947 Illinois
Fighting Illini
1948 Green Bay
Packers
Position(s) Quarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1949 Illinois
(freshmen)
1950–1951 Washington
Huskies (assistant)
1952 LSU Tigers (backfield)
1955–1957 Miami
(FL) (backfield)
1958 Wisconsin
Badgers (backfield)
1959 Florida State
1960–1962 Montreal
Alouettes
1964–1965 Charleston
Rockets
1966-1967 Orlando
Panthers
1968 Marshall
Thundering Herd
1970-1973 Chicago
Bears (OC)
1974 Green Bay
Packers (QB)
1975 San Antonio
Wings
1976-1978 Kentucky
(QB)
1979 Charlotte
Chargers
1980-1981 Kentucky
(QB)
1982 Montreal
Concordes (assistant)
1983-1984 Buffalo
Bills (TE)
1988 Chicago
Bruisers
1990 Detroit Drive
1991–1997 Orlando
Predators
Baseball
1955 Miami Hurricanes
(FL)
Head coaching record
Overall 4–15–1 (college
football)
86–35–1 (AFL)
15–7 (college baseball)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
ArenaBowl IV
Awards
3× AFL Coach of the Year (1988, 1992, 1994)
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