Menu
LAST MINUTE MUSINGS: Thanks for the memories, Chief
It probably wouldn’t be accurate to call former DePauw football coach Nick Mourouzis a friend of mine, but he always treated me as if I were.
The legendary Coach Nick, who passed away Wednesday night, had been out of coaching for three full seasons when I came to town 13 years ago.
However, “out of coaching” was a relative term for Mourouzis, who remained a constant around the program as volunteer kicking coach/motivational speaker/lovable sage, as far as I could tell.
The man was perpetual motion, still conducting his annual summer kicking camp and on scene for DePauw football events, public and private.
Even when he saw me, an acquaintance as I’ve said, his face would light up and he’d move quickly toward me, hand outstretched.
Hey, Chief!
Quick with a smile and a positive word — qualities in short supply with many football coaches — he was probably the best goodwill ambassador the school and athletic department had for years after his retirement.
I knew Coach Nick’s name before I came to Greencastle — though I wasn’t sure I could pronounce it.
As a high school senior who’d been accepted to DePauw, I received a form letter with his name on it inviting me to consider playing football for the Tigers. I filed that one away with a laugh.
Then as a college student cheering for the bitter rival to the north, I learned to fear the coach with the long name who always seemed to have his team fired up for the Monon Bell Classic.
For an example, see the 1998 game, in which a 6-3 DePauw team drubbed previously-undefeated Wabash by a 42-7 score. I arrived in Crawfordsville the following year, and the desperation on the Wabash campus surrounding the rivalry took years to dissipate.
Upon getting to Greencastle, though, I learned what a genuinely nice human being he was.
I don’t recall any deep conversations with him, but football was always comfortable ground for both of us — from the Bell to Indiana and Northwestern, the places he served as an assistant to John Pont.
I gave him grief for wearing red on Monon Bell week one year and he reminded me that it could also be for his time in Bloomington or at Miami (Ohio) — where he had also played quarterback for Pont.
He could also even laugh about the defeats, such as the Hoosiers’ loss in their only Rose Bowl appearance following the 1967 season. Of course, a 14-3 loss to USC is nothing to be ashamed of when Heismann winner O.J. Simpson is lining up across the ball.
“I had one defensive back who missed tackles on O.J. twice on the same play,” the coach recalled with a laugh.
I learned of that little mishap while doing a story on Coach Nick back in 2012, when he was set to miss his first Monon Bell game since 1980. He had good reason, though, as the ‘67 IU team was getting together for a 45th anniversary on the same day as the Monon Bell.
“I’m 75 and next time I’ll be 80,” Mourouzis said at the time. “I may not be there for the 50th reunion.”
As it turned out, he made it past 80 and was around for the 50th, though it will be strange when he’s not there for the next Monon Bell game — which won’t be until 2021, by the way. (Thanks again, 2020.)
I’m going to miss Coach Nick that day, much like I miss him today.