Mathew Joseph Kofler (August 30, 1959 – December 19, 2008) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) from 1982 to 1985. He played for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

and the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

. He was appointed

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

San Diego Mesa College San Diego Mesa College (Mesa College or Mesa) is a public community college in Clairemont Mesa in San Diego, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges and the San Diego Community College District. It is the largest community ...

in 2006.

Early years

Kofler played high school football for Patrick Henry High School in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

. Kofler was first-team All-American quarterback for Mesa College. He led all community colleges in the nation in total offense and was named California Player of the Year. In 1980, he transferred to

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

on a football

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

to continue his career.

Professional career

The

selected Kofler in the second round of the

1982 NFL Draft The 1982 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 27–28, 1982, at the New York She ...

. Kofler also played one final season with the

Post-Playing Career

Kofler was as an associate professor at San Diego Mesa College. Starting in 1998, he served the football program as offensive coordinator and director of recruitment. He was named the team's head coach in 2006 and spent three seasons in the role but poor health forced him to miss the final six games of the 2008 season. He died of an undisclosed illness in his home in El Cajon, California on December 19, 2008.

References

1959 births 2008 deaths American football quarterbacks Buffalo Bills players Indianapolis Colts players San Diego State Aztecs football players Sportspeople from El Cajon, California Players of American football from San Diego County, California Junior college football coaches in the United States People from Longview, Washington San Diego Mesa Olympians football players {{quarterback-1950s-stub