Darrell Mudra

Bio

Darrell Mudra boasts a 200-81-4 record and two national championships. He started his collegiate head-coaching career at Adams State in 1959 and led the team to the 1962 Mineral Bowl, where they defeated Northern Illinois 23-20. In 1963, he became the head coach at North Dakota State where he successfully turned the program around from an 0-10 record the year before to a 1964 Mineral Bowl victory. In 1965, he won his first national championship defeating Grambling 20-7 in the Pecan Bowl. He then coached the University of Arizona for two seasons and led them to the 1968 Sun Bowl. After a successful stint at Western Illinois, Mudra coached Florida State for two years before going to Eastern Illinois where he won the Division II National Championship. During Coach Mudra's tenure at Northern Iowa, he led the team to the I-AA (FCS) semifinals in 1985 and 1987. The Panthers were ranked fourth nationally at the end of the 1987 season and lost to the eventual national champion Northeast Louisiana 44-41 in overtime. He was named Kodak Region 4 Coach of the Year in 1985 while at UNI. Mudra was nicknamed "Dr. Victory" because of his success at each level. He was the first head coach to leave the sidelines and coach from the press box.