INDIANAPOLIS – UIndy Athletics lost one of its own recently. Bill Bless, longtime UIndy football and track and field head coach, passed away last week at the age of 76. A life-long Indianapolis native, Bless was a 1963 graduate of UIndy, then named Indiana Central College, and went on to be a professor at his alum mater as well as coach Greyhound student-athletes for more than 20 years.
 
Bless amassed the most wins ever by a UIndy football coach, compiling a 114-99-9 (.534) record from 1972-93. He was voted conference coach of the year three times, including in 1975 when he led the Hounds to their first-ever NCAA playoff berth.
 
He also worked as a public servant, serving six years on the Greenwood city council before being elected mayor in 1991.

Bless' football legacy lives on today in his three sons. Mark, Scott and Tim Bless all played football for their father at UIndy, with all three becoming successful football coaches in their own right. In addition, grandson Tyler spent the last two seasons as a graduate assistant on the UIndy football staff.

Bless was inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1994 and later the UIndy Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.