Perry Lee Moss (August 4, 1926 – August 7, 2014) was an

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

player, coach, and executive. Moss played tailback at the University of Tulsa and

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

during the 1940s. As a Tulsa tailback, he was on the Orange Bowl team that beat Georgia Tech, 26–12, in the 1945 Orange Bowl and later as an Illinois T-quarterback, he directed a Rose Bowl team which routed

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, 45–14, in 1947. Moss served two years in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

between his playing time at Tulsa and Illinois. At Illinois, he was named to All-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

and All-American teams. He was drafted in 1948 by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

in the 13th round (111th pick overall) and played at the professional level for one year before returning to Illinois as an assistant. He started one game at quarterback for the Packers. Moss served as head baseball coach and backfield coach at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

in 1955 and

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

in 1958. In 1959, he was named as the head football coach and athletic director at Florida State, and compiled a 4–6 record and later at

Marshall University Marshall University is a public university, public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice of the Uni ...

in 1968 where he compiled an 0–9–1 record before resigning in the wake of

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

recruiting violations. Twenty-eight members of the 1969 Thundering Herd presented a petition to West Virginia Governor Arch A. Moore Jr. to reinstate Moss for 1970, but the university instead named 1969 interim coach Rick Tolley, known as a brutal disciplinarian, to the post permanently. The decision undoubtedly saved Moss' life, for Tolley, 37 players and 37 others perished on November 14, 1970 in the crash of Southern Airways Flight 932 following Marshall's loss at East Carolina. From 1960 through 1962 he was head coach of the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. In the mid-1960s and again in the early 1980s he coached the Charleston Rockets of the semi-pro American Football Association. In the 1970s and early 1980s Moss was the offensive coordinator for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

, quarterbacks coach for the

, had two stints as a position coach for the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

under head coach Fran Curci, and was head coach of two teams in the American Football Association. In 1987, Moss was hired as the head coach of the Chicago Bruisers of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

. In 1991, he was named as first coach of the Orlando Predators of the

and compiled a record of 59–25 before leaving the team in 1997. From 1986 to 1987, Moss was the Defensive Coordinator of the University of Central Florida, where he introduced the Chicago Bears '46' Defense, enabling UCF to record its first winning season in history. The following year, Moss's Defense led UCF to its first Division I-AA play-off appearance. Moss then resigned from UCF, and thereafter began coaching Arena Football. Perry's son Les is also an American football coach. Moss is a member of the Florida Sports Hall of Fame and Arena Football Hall of Fame. On August 7, 2014, Moss died at his home in DeBary, Florida, aged 88.

Head coaching record

College football

References

External links

Coaching Page on ArenaFan.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moss, Perry 1926 births 2014 deaths American Football Association (1977–1983) American football quarterbacks Continental Football League coaches Chicago Bears coaches Chicago Bruisers coaches Florida State Seminoles football coaches Florida State Seminoles athletic directors Green Bay Packers coaches Green Bay Packers players Illinois Fighting Illini football coaches Illinois Fighting Illini football players Kentucky Wildcats football coaches LSU Tigers football coaches Marshall Thundering Herd football coaches Massachusetts Marauders coaches Miami Hurricanes baseball coaches Miami Hurricanes football coaches Montreal Alouettes coaches Montreal Alouettes general managers Orlando Predators coaches San Antonio Wings coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane football players Washington Huskies football coaches Wisconsin Badgers football coaches Players of American football from Volusia County, Florida Players of American football from Tulsa, Oklahoma Coaches of American football from Oklahoma Baseball coaches from Oklahoma United States Air Force airmen