HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

George Julius Perles (July 16, 1934 – January 7, 2020) was an
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
player and coach. He was a
defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...
coach,
defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...
, and assistant
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 ...
for 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 ...
's
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
from 1972 to 1982 and the head football coach at
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
from 1983 to 1994. Perles was elected to the MSU Board of Trustees in 2006. He retired from his position on the Board November 29, 2018, citing health reasons and wanting to spend time with family. On January 7, 2020, Perles died from
Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
. He was 85 years old.


Early years

Perles was born on July 16, 1934 in
Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
, the only child of Julius George and Nellie (Romain) Perles. He was of Lithuanian descent. Perles grew up in Detroit and attended Western High School. Upon graduating, Perles and 17 of his high school friends jointly enlisted in the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
.


Michigan State

After returning from active duty, Perles returned to Michigan where he enrolled at Michigan State University and played football under legendary coach
Duffy Daugherty Hugh Duffy Daugherty (September 8, 1915 – September 25, 1987) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Michigan State University from 1954 to 1972, compiling a record of 109–69–5. His 1965 and 1966 teams won ...
. Perles played the 1958 season before his playing career was cut short by a knee injury. Perles then started his football coaching career as a
graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respons ...
at Michigan State before moving on to the
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
ranks in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
and Detroit, where his St. Ambrose High School team won their first Detroit City League Championship in 1961. Perles returned to Michigan State as defensive line coach under his mentor, Daugherty.


Pittsburgh Steelers

In 1972,
Chuck Noll Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer * ...
, head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, reviewed dozens of resumes and interviewed numerous candidates before deciding to offer Perles the position of defensive line coach. In Perles’ first season, the Steelers made the
NFL playoffs The National Football League (NFL) playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Currently, seven teams from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs. A tie-breaki ...
for the second time in franchise history, the first since 1947, losing to the
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...
in the
AFC Championship Game The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. ...
. In 1974, the Steelers won the first of six consecutive
AFC Central The American Football Conference – Northern Division or AFC North is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division was adopted after the restructuring of the 2002 NFL s ...
division championships and also their first
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
. Perles became the defensive coordinator for the Steelers in 1978 and then assistant head coach under Noll in 1979. During Perles' ten years with Pittsburgh (1972–1982), the Steelers won a then-record four Super Bowls and became known as the team of the decade for the 1970s, largely on the back of their "Stunt 4-3" defense designed by Perles. This defense used Joe Greene in an angled stance with Jack Lambert stacked behind him. With Greene's talent and stunts it kept Lambert free from blockers to seemingly make every tackle.


USFL

In 1982, Perles was hired as the head coach of the Philadelphia Stars of the fledgling
United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...
(USFL). Perles worked for one year with the Stars during the development and formation of the league and the team, but broke his contract with the team prior to the start of the first season when he was offered the Michigan State head football coaching position. The Stars sued MSU for interfering with Perles's contract; the case was settled out of court for $175,000.


Return to Michigan State

Perles returned to
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
on December 3, 1982. In 12 years, he led the Spartans to two
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
titles and seven bowl games. His best team was the 1987 unit, which won its last outright Big Ten title in the pre-
championship game In sport, a championship is a Competition#Sports, competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match sy ...
era and defeated
USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...
in the
1988 Rose Bowl The 1988 Rose Bowl was the 74th edition of the college football bowl game, played on January 1, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The Michigan State Spartans defeated the USC Trojans 20–17 in a bowl rematch that was much closer than th ...
.


Athletic director

In January, 1990, Perles became Michigan State's athletic director while remaining head football coach. Having one man as both athletic director and head football coach proved controversial, and in 1992 Perles resigned as athletic director but remained football head coach.


NCAA sanctions

During 1994–1995, an extensive external investigation conducted by the law firm of Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC. uncovered minor infractions by an athletic department administrator. MSU president
M. Peter McPherson Melville Peter McPherson (born October 27, 1940) is president emeritus of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. He previously served as a special assistant to President Gerald Ford, administrator of USAID under President Ronald ...
fired Perles before the end of the 1994 season, but allowed him to finish out the season. McPherson also ordered the Spartans to forfeit their five wins for that season. If not for the forfeits, Perles would rank third on Michigan State's all-time wins list, behind only Daugherty and Dantonio. The NCAA subsequently cleared Perles of wrongdoing.


After coaching


Motor City Bowl

In 1995, Perles and former Michigan State University Sports Information Director, Ken Hoffman, founded and initiated the
Motor City Bowl The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl (known as the Motor City Bowl until 2009) was a post-season college football bowl game that was played annually from 1997 to 2013. The first five games (1997–2001) were played at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, ...
, a collegiate football bowl game in Detroit. In 2007, the Motor City Bowl enjoyed a record crowd of more than 63,000 people in its 11th game with Perles as chief executive officer and Hoffman as executive director.


MSU Board of Trustees

In November 2006, Perles was elected as a
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
to the Board of Trustees of Michigan State University. He began serving an eight-year term on January 1, 2007. In May 2007, the MSU Board of Trustees voted to name the plaza adjacent to the Duffy Daugherty Football Building the George J. Perles and Sally A. Perles Plaza. In November 2014, Perles was re-elected to the board of trustees of Michigan State University. His second eight-year term began on January 1, 2015. He announced his resignation effectively immediately on November 29, 2018, citing health concerns.


Head coaching record

*Michigan State forfeited its entire schedule after an academic scandal; record was 5–6 (4–4 Big Ten).
**Record at Michigan State is 73–62–4 (58–37–2 Big Ten) without forfeited games.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perles, George 1934 births 2020 deaths Deaths from Parkinson's disease Neurological disease deaths in Michigan Michigan State Spartans athletic directors Michigan State Spartans football coaches Michigan State Spartans football players National Football League defensive coordinators Pittsburgh Steelers coaches Coaches of American football from Michigan Michigan Democrats Players of American football from Detroit