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Perry Moss
Perry Moss - 1948 Bowman.jpg
Moss on a 1948 Bowman football card
Biographical details
Born (1926-08-04)August 4, 1926
Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died August 7, 2014(2014-08-07) (aged 88)
Deltona, Florida, U.S.
Playing career
Football
1944 Tulsa
1946–1947 Illinois
1948 Green Bay Packers
Position(s) Quarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1949 Illinois (freshmen)
1950–1951 Washington (assistant)
1952 LSU (backfield)
1955–1957 Miami (FL) (backfield)
1958 Wisconsin (backfield)
1959 Florida State
1960–1962 Montreal Alouettes
1964–1965 Charleston Rockets
1966–1967 Orlando Panthers
1968 Marshall
1970–1973 Chicago Bears (OC)
1974 Green Bay Packers (QB)
1975 San Antonio Wings
1976–1978 Kentucky (QB)
1979 Charlotte Chargers
1980–1981 Kentucky (QB)
1982 Montreal Concordes (assistant)
1983–1984 Buffalo Bills (TE)
1988 Chicago Bruisers
1990 Detroit Drive
1991–1997 Orlando Predators
Baseball
Head coaching record
Overall 4–15–1 (college football)
86–35–1 (AFL)
15–7 (college baseball)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
ArenaBowl IV
Awards
3× AFL Coach of the Year (1988, 1992, 1994)

Perry Lee Moss (August 4, 1926 – August 7, 2014) was an American football player, coach, and executive. Moss played tailback at the University of Tulsa and quarterback at Illinois 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, 45–14, in 1947. Moss served two years in the United States Air Force between his playing time at Tulsa and Illinois. At Illinois, he was named to All-Big Ten Conference and All-American teams. He was drafted in 1948 by the Green Bay Packers 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 in 1955 and University of Wisconsin–Madison 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 in 1968 where he compiled an 0–9–1 record before resigning in the wake of NCAA 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 in the Canadian Football League. 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, quarterbacks coach for the Green Bay Packers, had two stints as a position coach for the University of Kentucky 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.

In 1991, he was named as first coach of the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League 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 Deltona, Florida, aged 88.

Head coaching record

College football

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Florida State Seminoles (NCAA University Division independent) (1959)
1959 Florida State 4–6
Florida State: 4–6
Marshall Thundering Herd (Mid-American Conference) (1968)
1968 Marshall 0–9–1 0–6 7th
Marshall: 0–9–1 0–6
Total: 4–15–1
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