Gopher Football: Former offensive coordinator, Mike Dunbar, dies at 64

Mike Dunbar, a football coach who devoted more than 40 years to the sport, passed away Friday at the age of 64 from cancer.

The Washington state native started his coaching career at Pacific Lutheran University as an assistant coach in 1976. From there, Dunbar held coaching jobs at 10 other programs, including the University of Minnesota Gophers from 2007 to 2008 as an offensive coordinator and assistant head coach under Tim Brewster.

Following Minnesota, Dunbar held an offensive coordinator position at New Mexico State in 2010 before leaving for Northern Illinois University in 2012. Dunbar was an offensive coordinator at NIU up until the first game of last season, when he left the team to deal with his illness.

In Other News…

• The Gopher men’s hockey team will receive plenty of national television exposure this season, thanks to the Big Ten Network. In addition to BTN, the Gophers will open their season against Wisconsin on ESPNU, slated for Nov. 29.
• University of Minnesota athletic director Norwood Teague expressed his full support for football head coach Jerry Kill on Monday in a press conference. Teague had been criticized for not addressing the media immediately following the game on Saturday.

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