Legendary Gophers football coach dies at age 98

Bobby Bell, Murray Warmath
Former Minnesota great Bobby Bell, right, poses with his former coach Murray Warmath before an NCAA football game between Minnesota and Northwestern, Saturday Oct. 2, 2010 in Minneapolis. Warmath died Wednesday, March 16, 2011 in Bloomington of natural causes. He was 98.
AP Photo/Paul Battaglia

The football coach who led the Minnesota Gophers to a national championship and two back-to-back Rose Bowls has died at age 98.

The University of Minnesota, on its Web site, says Murray Warmath died Wednesday in Bloomington of natural causes. He had been a resident of Friendship Village, a retirement community, for the past eight years.

Warmath led the Gophers for 18 seasons and made two trips to the Rose Bowl. He was named coach in 1954 and after the Gophers finished in last place in the Big Ten in 1959, angry fans tossed garbage on his front lawn and hung the coach in effigy. But, it was just a year later that Warmath led Minnesota to the national championship. He's the last Gophers football coach to win a national championship.

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- University of Minnesota Athletics Department

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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