Legendary DePauw coach and AD Tommy Mont dies

Tommy Mont

Thomas A. "Tommy" Mont Jr., who served as DePauw University's head football coach from 1959 through 1976 and as athletic director from 1972 until his retirement in 1987, died Sunday, Jan. 1, of heart failure in Arizona. He was 89 years old.

Born June 20, 1922 in Mount Savage, Md., Mont was a star quarterback at the University of Maryland. He was the nation's No. 3 passer in 1942 and was an honorable mention All-American that season.

As World War II raged, Mont left college to join the U.S. Army as an infantry line officer in the European Theater and coached the 3rd Infantry Division football team, which won the 7th Army championship in 1945. After returning to the U.S., he coached the basketball and football teams at Fort Benning, Ga.

After his military service, Mont returned to Maryland and played football for another season and graduated in 1947.

He went on to play professionally for the NFL's Washington Redskins for three seasons, backing up legendary quarterback Sammy Baugh.

Mont recalled his first professional game, before 96,000 fans at the Los Angeles Coliseum. "I had missed training camp with the Redskins so I wasn't expected to get into the game," he said in a 2007 speech.

"They had me listed as the No. 2 punter. Well, the No. 1 punter gets hurt, and I have to go into the game. This was in the day when helmets didn't have facemasks. I was so nervous I put my helmet on backward. When I got on the field, the referee asked me if I was coming or going."

In 1949, Mont served as an assistant football coach at the University of Chattanooga, where he helped install a T-formation offense. He returned to the Redskins in 1950 as an assistant coach, then the following season returned to Maryland, where he was backfield coach through 1955.

He also worked with the U.S. Marine Corps' Parris Island football team, the National Polytechnic Institute's squad in Mexico City, and the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League.

In 1956, Mont was named Maryland's head coach, succeeding Jim Tatum. He amassed an 11-18-1 record in three seasons, before resigning in 1958.

In 18 years roaming the sideline at Blackstock Stadium Tommy Mont amassed just a 67-94-4 record, but his teams were always at their best in the biggest games, as Mont was 12-5-1 in Monon Bell Classics. Mont, who also served as DePauw's athletic director for 16 years, passed away on New Year's Day. He was 89 years old.

It was at that point that he moved to Greencastle to take over DePauw's football program. His appointment was announced on April 29, 1959.

Mont's overall record leading the black and gold was 67-94-4, but his teams were often pitted against larger schools in non-conference competition.

Mont's Tigers were a thorn in the side of Wabash College, logging a 12-5-1 record in the battles for the Monon Bell that he coached. His teams won five straight contests (1960-64) over Wabash.

The coach was widely known for his wisecracking wit and unconventional outlook. Late in the 1960 Monon Bell game, DePauw scored a touchdown to make it a 13-12 Wabash lead and Mont faced a tough call -- kick the extra point and tie the score, or go for the two-point conversion and the win?

Mont looked to assistant Ted Katula in the Blackstock Stadium press box for help. Still pondering, Mont took a broader poll.

"I turned around and asked the crowd what to do," he recalled. "They said, 'Go for it!' So we made up our mind to go for it."

DePauw lined up in extra-point formation but ran an option that got the Tigers into the end zone, making them winners in the annual rivalry game. Mont was carried off the field by his jubilant players, a scene repeated in 1962.

In late 1971, Mont received additional duties as director of athletics and head of the department of health, physical education and recreation. He retired from coaching in 1977 to devote full time to administrative duties.

DePauw players carry coach Tommy Mont off the field after their 1962 Monon Bell victory.

"Coach Mont was a great leader who taught me a tremendous amount about how to work with people," current DPU athletic director Page Cotton said. "He was a friend to many and will be greatly missed, but always remembered with a smile."

Coach Mont, who authored articles for Athletic Journal and Scholastic Coach magazines, was elected the national chairman of the NCAA Division III Football Committee in 1986.

He is a member of the DePauw Athletic Hall of Fame, as well as the University of Maryland and state of Maryland athletic halls of fame and the Indiana Football Hall of Fame.

In 1983, DePauw alumni named Mont an "Alumni Faculty Fellow" in recognition of his promotional work with the university's graduates across the nation.

Mont was a popular after-dinner speaker and continued to entertain audiences with his deadpan jokes and stories well into his 80s. He was even featured on NBC's "Today" in 1986.

In 1987, he was the primary speaker for the Touchdown Club of Washington, D.C., with the 2,000 attendees, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and NFL great Walter Payton.