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RIP, Coach Hep. More devastating than losing a great coach, Indiana University, Miami University and College Football lost as fine a man as there is in the sport.
I got to know Hep like most of you get to know your school's head coach. Coach Hoeppner was at Miami for most of my years. He was everything you'd want in a football coach. The eery part, his predecessor at Miami Randy Walker, also died far too soon last summer.
Indiana football coach Terry Hoeppner died Tuesday of complications from a brain tumor. He was 59.
Hoeppner, who had two brain surgeries in the past 18 months, spent the last four months on medical leave. He died at 6:50 a.m. at Bloomington Hospital with his family at his side, school spokesman J.D. Campbell said.
"Terry's fight was courageous and will serve as an inspiration to those who have known him,'' Indiana athletic director Rick Greenspan said in a statement. "This is a truly sad day for our community and all of our thoughts and prayers are with the Hoeppner family and to those whose lives he has touched.''
From the Miami perspective where Hep spent most of his years, here's a fitting post from MiamiHawkTalk:
With great sadness, we pass along the news this morning that former Miami coach Terry Hoeppner has lost his battle with brain cancer. Coach Hoepp was a Miami "lifer," serving for 13 years as an assistant coach to Tim Rose and Randy Walker before taking the reins as head coach in 1999. In six seasons at the helm in Oxford, he posted a 48-25 mark, making him the second-winningest coach in Miami’s storied history. His tenure, of course, was highlighted by Miami’s spectacular 2003 campaign, in which the RedHawks achieved a 13-1 mark and finished the season ranked in the AP Top Ten for only the second time in school history.
After the 2004 season, Coach Hoeppner left Oxford for Indiana, where his energy and enthusiasm rejuvenenated a moribund program before he began to struggle with health issues. An eternal optimist and all-time tough guy, Coach Hoeppner took only four days off work following his first surgery and missed only two games last season after his second surgery. The last two years of his life have been a living example to his players of one of his favorite coaching mottos—DON’T QUIT.
Terry Hoeppner was one of our all time favorite Cradle-men. His plain-spoken leadership and infectious enthusiasm led Miami football to new heights. It was a pleasure and privilege to watch his teams play, and we can only imagine how enjoyable it would have been to play or coach on one of his teams. Our hearts go out today to Coach Hoepp’s wife, Jane, and the entire family. We hope they know that, here at the Cradle, we will always remember Terry Hoeppner and hold him in the highest regard.
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