Nick Mourouzis served as DePauw’s head football coach for 23 seasons in addition to his role as professor of kinesiology.
In 23 seasons, his DePauw teams have compiled a 138-87-4 record for a .611 winning percentage. His 138 wins is the most in school history, while his winning percentage is topped only by Raymond “Gaumey” Neal whose teams posted a .688 mark.
His 23-year tenure was also the longest in school history ahead of Tom Mont’s 18-year stint from 1959-76 and he was just the eighth DePauw coach since 1930. His entire football coaching career spanned six decades following his graduation from Miami (Ohio) in 1959.
Mourouzis came to DePauw in 1981 and, in his first season with the Tigers, led the Old Gold to a 9-1 record and broke the school mark for victories in a season. That team also finished the season ranked ninth in the final Division III poll.
He was named the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2000 after leading the Tigers to a three-way share of the league title.
Mourouzis was named the Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 1996 and 1990. He directed the 1996 Tigers to a 9-1 overall mark and a 6-0 record in ICAC play and the 1990 team to a perfect 7-0 record in conference play and an 8-2 overall mark that season.
Mourouzis turned the Tigers’ offense into one of the premier passing attacks among NCAA Division III schools. In a study conducted by Jim Doan at UC-Davis, DePauw ranked seventh in passing efficiency among NCAA Division III schools from 1980-1989.
Under Mourouzis, the Tigers have made their mark in several Division III rankings. The 1996 Tigers led all of Division III in turnover margin with a +2.5 average. The Old Gold also was the eighth-ranked passing team in Division III. In 1988 the Tigers threw for an average of 258 yards per game, the sixth highest average in the nation.
The 1983 DePauw team was ranked number one in the nation against the run, seventh in total defense and 13th in scoring defense. The Tigers’ passing attack, which racked up 2,400 yards in 1987, ranked 13th as did the team of 1984. In 1985, the offense and defense each cracked the top 20, with the passing game rated 17th with 224.1 yards per game and the defense allowing only 116.8 yards per contest, ranking 19th. Last year’s squad ranked 15th in passing offense.
A 1959 graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Mourouzis got his playing experience as a quarterback under head coach John Pont. He led the Redskins to the Mid-American Conference championship during his senior season in 1958 and earned three varsity letters. During his four seasons on the Oxford, Ohio, campus Miami won three MAC titles and compiled a 28-7-1 record.
Following graduation, Mourouzis began his coaching career as a graduate assistant under Bill Hess at Ohio University from 1959-1961. The 1960 Bobcats captured the small college national championship.
In 1961, Mourouzis moved on to Kettering Fairmont (Ohio) High School, where he was assistant football and head track coach. That year, the football team finished 8-0-1 and was ranked sixth in Ohio, while Mourouzis’ track squad finished with an undefeated dual meet season.
From there, he moved back into college coaching with stints at Ball State, Ohio University, Indiana and Northwestern. As an assistant coach, Mourouzis got all the training he needed to become a head coach as he coached every position prior to his appointment at DePauw.
At Ball State, he coached the offensive and defensive lines under head coach Ray Louthen. In his first season at the Muncie, Ind., school, Mourouzis helped coach the Cardinals to their first winning season in five years. Next, he moved on to Ohio University for two seasons and the Bobcats won back-to-back Mid-American Conference titles.
In 1965, he rejoined Pont to be part of his staff at Indiana. That stint included the Hoosiers’ 1968 Rose Bowl appearance against the University of Southern California. Mourouzis went with Pont to Northwestern in 1973, coaching the quarterbacks, receivers and pass offense. After Pont left in 1977, he remained with the Wildcats under head coach Rick Venturi in the same capacity. Mourouzis had the team ranked first or second in pass offense four of his five years there.
Mourouzis took a sabbatical leave during the spring of 1996 to organize the first national scholar athlete society, Chi Alpha Sigma. The honor society inducted its sixth class last spring at DePauw and has established chapters on more than 70 college and universities in 28 states.
During his leave in the spring of 1989, Mourouzis assisted Indiana University Head Football Coach Bill Mallory with spring practices. While at Indiana, Mourouzis worked with the quarterbacks and kickers.
Mourouzis was honored at the American Football Coaches Association convention in New Orleans in January 1997 with the organization’s 35-year award. He also has published several articles on football and coaching with the latest appearing in the spring of 1997 in the American Football Quarterly on “Scientific Approach to Kickoffs.”
He also presented a session on special teams skills and fundamentals at the 2003 AFCA Convention in New Orleans.
In February 2001, Mourouzis earned the Distinguished American Award from the central Indiana chapter of the National Football Foundation for his lifetime commitment to football and for making significant contributions toward bettering amateur football in the United States.
He was inducted into Miami’s Cradle of Coaches in 2003, joining legendary coaches such as Pont, Weeb Ewbank, Paul Brown, Ara Parseghian, Bill Mallory, Walter Alston and Woody Hayes.
In 2003, the Uhrichsville, Ohio, native was named the Alumnus of the Year by the Claymont Foundation and in 2004 he was inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame. He also was a 2006 DePauw Athletics Hall of Fame inductee.
Mourouzis and his wife, Marilyn, reside in Greencastle. Their family includes daughter Pam and her husband Matt McClure and son Ted and his wife Susan along with four grandchildren.
MOUROUZIS’ COACHING EXPERIENCE
1959-61
Graduate assistant football coach
Ohio University; Athens, Ohio
1961-62
Assistant football and head track coach
Kettering Fairmont High School; Kettering, Ohio
1962-63
Assistant football coach
Ball State University; Muncie, Indiana
1963-65
Assistant football coach
Ohio University; Athens, Ohio
1965-73
Assistant football coach
Indiana University; Bloomington, Indiana
1973-81
Assistant football coach
Northwestern University; Evanston, Illinois
1981-2003
Head football coach
DePauw University; Greencastle, Indiana
2004-2018
Volunteer assistant coach
DePauw University; Greencastle, Indiana
MOUROUZIS’ RECORD at DEPAUW
Year W L T Pct. Conference finish
1981 9 1 0 .900
1982 8 2 0 .800
1983 7 3 0 .700
1984 6 4 0 .600
1985 8 2 0 .800
1986 6 4 0 .600
1987 7 3 0 .700
1988 4 5 0 .444
1989 6 2 2 .700 tie 3rd
1990 8 2 0 .800 1st
1991 6 4 0 .600 tie 2nd
1992 4 4 2 .500 tie 2nd
1993 2 8 0 .200 tie 6th
1994 2 8 0 .200 6th
1995 3 7 0 .300 7th
1996 9 1 0 .900 1st
1997 8 2 0 .800 2nd
1998 7 3 0 .700 2nd
1999 5 5 0 .500 4th
2000 6 4 0 .600 tie-1st
2001 5 5 0 .500 3rd
2002 7 3 0 .700 2nd
2003 5 5 0 .500 tie-4th
Totals 138 87 4 .611
