(VIA IUP ATHLETICS)
The Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) Athletic Department, along with the campus and Indiana communities, mourns the passing of its former head football coach, Chuck Mills. Mills passed away Monday, January 18 in Hawaii at the age of 92.
Mills spent two seasons as the head coach of the then-Indiana State College Indiana in 1962 and 1963. He led his squads to a combined 12-3-2 record, including a 7-1-1 mark during the landmark 1963 season. Mills and ISC were set to play Montclair (N.J) State in the Boardwalk Bowl on Nov. 23, 1963, but the game was canceled following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Following his two seasons in Indiana, Mills spent time as an assistant coach at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, the University of Arizona, and with the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs. He became the head coach at Utah State University in 1967 where he would stay for six seasons. He compiled a 38-23-1 overall record, finishing his time there with back-to-back 8-3 seasons in 1971 and 1972. Mills then spent five seasons as the head coach at Wake Forest University (1973-77) and also coached at Southern Oregon and the Coast Guard Academy, finishing his career in 1997 with a 9-2 record.
Mills was inducted into the IUP Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009. Fourteen of his players at ISC – who were either recruited by him or played for him during his two seasons in Indiana – are also in the IUP Hall of Fame.
MORE ON COACH MILLS:
“He was just unique. A lot of people would say that he was a great coach … because he knew the Xs and Os. He knew them, but Mills was more of a psychological coach. He got in your head and worked to better you through the psychology of things you do.”
“He was a little bit of a different guy, I used the term Renaissance man. IUP and the athletic department never saw anything like that before him. I think he had an influence everywhere. He was very solid in the things he did. I wish he would have stayed longer, but he went on and did the same kind of good things for a lot of other people. There were a lot of kids who benefited from his influence, no doubt about it.”
Ron Peters, former player and assistant for Mills (1962-63)
“Coach Mills worked very hard to stay in touch with all of his former players. He started the “Brothers & Cuzins” reunion where the players from IUP were my “Brothers” and the players from the other schools he coached were my ‘cuzins’ but we considered all of us as “Brothers” due to the link with Coach Mills. Coach Mills never hesitated to help any of his players when we had a life changing situation. The numerous contacts within the ‘Brothers & Cuzins’ group normally had someone with the expertise to help with the situation.
When Coach Mills was inducted into the IUP Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009 over 60% of the players who played for him at ISC were in attendance. This is one indication of the love and respect we all had for this great individual. Coach Mills was a great friend to me and all of his other players for over fifty years and he will always have a special place in our hearts.”
Barry “Buck” Lippencott, former player for Mills (1963)
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