DALLAS, TEXAS (April 27, 2009) - SMU assistant coach and coaching legend Frank Gansz passed away on April 27, 2009. He was 70. Gansz is survived by his wife, Barbara, and two children, Frank Jr., an assistant coach at UCLA, and Jennifer.
"I am deeply saddened by the loss of my good friend," said SMU Head Coach June
Jones. "Frank has been a second father to me for the past 30 years and he has
touched the lives of many, both at SMU and throughout the National Football
League. I was lucky to have known Frank, and not only was he a wonderful person,
but he was a father to everyone he has ever coached. He will live on with us. My
team will miss him as a coach and mentor, but most of all, I will miss him as my
best friend."
Considered perhaps the top special teams coach in the history of the NFL, Frank
Gansz was starting his second season on the Hilltop. Gansz was a veteran of 38
seasons of coaching - 24 in the NFL and 14 in the collegiate ranks.
"While we were only blessed with Frank's presence here on the Hilltop for 14
months, SMU is a better place because of his time here," said SMU Director of
Athletics Steve Orsini. "We will miss him."
Prior to coming to SMU in 2008, Gansz was with the Jacksonville Jaguars, where
he was special teams coordinator in 2000 and 2001. Prior to his time with the
Jags, he served as the special teams coach of the St. Louis Rams for three
seasons, helping the team to its victory in Super Bowl XXXIV.
In 1986, Gansz's first year as the assistant head coach/special teams for Kansas
City, the Chiefs blocked or deflected an NFL-record 10 kicks and scored five
touchdowns. Because of his success with the special teams, Gansz was promoted to
head coach of the Chiefs, a role he served from 1987 to 1988.
He left the Chiefs to become the special teams coach of the Detroit Lions from
1989 to 1993, a period in which Mel Gray developed into the NFL's all-time
leader in combined kick return yardage. In 1989, Gansz was named NFL Special
Teams Coach of the Year by his peers. Gansz then spent three years as the
assistant head coach/special teams for the Atlanta Falcons from 1994 to 1996.
Gansz's NFL career began in 1978 as special teams coach for the San Francisco
49ers. He coached special teams and tight ends for Cincinnati (1979-80), Kansas
City (1981-82) and Philadelphia (1983-85).
After serving as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force for nearly seven years, Gansz
began his coaching career at the Air Force Academy (1964-66). He also had
coaching stints at Colgate (1968), Navy (1969-72), Oklahoma State (1973, 1975),
Army (1974) and UCLA (1976-77).
Born November 22, 1938, in Altoona, Pa., Gansz attended Taylor-Allerdice High in
Pittsburgh, and was inducted into the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.
He played center and linebacker for the Naval Academy from 1957 to 1959 and
graduated in 1960.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
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