Gary Tranquill (born April 13, 1940) is a retired

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach and former player. He was last the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach r ...

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classified ...

, a position he held until 2010. From 1982 to 1986, Tranquill served as the head football coach at the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

, compiling a record of 20–34–1.

Playing career

Tranquill played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

for four years (1958–1961) as a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

Wittenberg University Wittenberg University is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students representing 33 states and 9 foreign countries. Wittenberg University is associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ...

under head coach and future

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vo ...

inductee, Bill Edwards. Tranquill also lettered in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

and was inducted into the Wittenberg University Athletics Hall of Honor in 1986.

Coaching career

Tranquill was the 32nd head coach for the United States Naval Academy Midshipmen located in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

and he held that position for five seasons, from 1982 until 1986. His coaching record at United States Naval Academy was 20 wins, 34 losses, and 1 tie.Navy Midshipmen football coaching records
Tranquill then joined the staff of George Welsh, who had preceded him as Navy's head coach, at

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

. As quarterbacks coach and

, Tranquill coached Cavalier standouts

Scott Secules Thomas Wescott Secules (born November 8, 1964) is a former professional American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots. He played college football at t ...

Shawn Moore Shawn Levique Moore (born April 4, 1968) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football for the Virginia Cavali ...

, and

Matt Blundin Matthew Brent Blundin (born March 7, 1969) is a former professional American football quarterback in the National Football League. He was a back-up quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions during the 1990s. He played both col ...

. After the 1990 season in which Virginia attained a #1 ranking behind a potent offense, Tranquill became the quarterbacks coach for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conferenc ...

from 1991 to 1993. He later returned to the college ranks at

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

, a second stint at Virginia, and finally at

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

before his retirement. Tranquill worked closely with

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphi ...

for multiple teams and over several decades. * Saban served as defensive backs coach at West Virginia in 1979. Tranquill was the defensive coordinator. * Saban worked under Tranquill as defensive backs coach at Navy in 1982. * Tranquill worked as the quarterbacks coach for the Cleveland Browns under

Bill Belichick William Stephen Belichick (; born April 16, 1952) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Additionally, he exercises extensive authority over the Patri ...

from 1991 to 1993 while Saban was defensive coordinator. * Tranquill served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Saban at Michigan State from 1995 to 1998. After a brief retirement, Tranquill joined the Rhein Fire of

NFL Europa NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

where he served as the quarterbacks coach for one season. In January 2009, he was hired by

Frank Spaziani Frank Joseph Spaziani (born April 1, 1947) is an American football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Boston College from 2009 to 2012, compiling a record of 22 wins and 29 losses. Prior to becoming head coach, Spazia ...

to become the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for

. On January 11, 2011 Tranquill retired once again from coaching at the age of 70.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tranquill, Gary 1940 births Living people Ball State Cardinals football coaches Boston College Eagles football coaches Bowling Green Falcons football coaches Cleveland Browns coaches Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches Michigan State Spartans football coaches Navy Midshipmen football coaches North Carolina Tar Heels football coaches Rhein Fire coaches Virginia Cavaliers football coaches Virginia Tech Hokies football coaches West Virginia Mountaineers football coaches Wittenberg Tigers baseball players Wittenberg Tigers football coaches Wittenberg Tigers football players