For the second year in a row, the Big Ten has lost another football coach. Terry Hoeppner, the head football coach of Indiana University, died Tuesday of complications from a brain tumor; he was 59.
“Coach Hoeppner’s untimely passing earlier today is a loss for the game of football, the Big Ten Conference, Indiana University, his wonderful family and all the young people he touched,” said Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel in a statement to the media. “Coach Hoepp was a difference maker throughout his career. He will be truly missed by his colleagues. Our thoughts are with his family and Indiana University.”
Hoeppner spent the last two seasons at Indiana University and spent 19 seasons at Miami University of Ohio where he coached Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
“I can’t say enough about Coach Hoeppner. He is an inspiration – a second father to me. I love him to death,” Roethlisberger said in a statement to the media. “I told him that I will always support him, because he has always supported me.”
This news came 10 days before the one-year anniversary of the death of fellow Big Ten coach Randy Walker of Northwestern University. Walker died of a sudden heart attack on June 29, 2006.
Hoeppner is survived by his three children, Amy, Allison and Drew, and his four grandchildren Tucker, Spencer, Tate and Quinn.
Jeffrey Symonds can be reached for comment at [email protected].
