Former Vanderbilt Football Coach Woody Widenhofer Passes Away
Former Vanderbilt Commodores head football coach Woody Widenhofer has passed away at the age of 77.
According to a tweet from his former Vanderbilt player Alonzo Harvey, Widenhofer, who coached the Commodores from 1995-96 as the offensive coordinator before taking over as the head coach from 1997-2001 passed on Sunday night.
While Widenhofer is best known for helping develop the "Steel Curtain" defense that won four Super Bowls for the Pittsburgh Steelers of Chuck Knoll's team in the 1970s, Widenhofer left his mark on the City of Nashville and Vanderbilt during his time at the school.
Unconfirmed reports say Widenhofer and his wife have been living in the Dallas area, but no other details of his passing are known at this time.
After leaving Vanderbilt, Widenhofer reportedly worked in a toll booth in Destin. Florida and saying he did so because he didn't have anything to do and loved meeting people.
Long time Vanderbilt radio play-by-play voice Joe Fisher worked with Widenhofer on the Commodores coaches show during his time in Nashville, and Fisher shared his thoughts on the often funny former coach.
"Woody was a unique individual. I was extremely loyal to his assistants and to his staff, maybe to a fault in some degree," said Fisher via phone interview. "He loved the process, he loved coaching, he loved the spotlight and I think it's one of those situations where he was a tremendous defensive mind and brought that to Vanderbilt."
"If you go back and look at a lot of the teams that he had at Vanderbilt, they had really, really solid defenses, but just could not put up enough offense to help manage it." continued Fisher. "But, he was a bigger than life character and to some, he was a caricature, but I really enjoyed my time with him. He was a very good man and he put a lot into what he did during his time at Vanderbilt."
Of all the stories of Widenhofer and his time as the Commodores head coach, one story of him during his weekly coaches' radio show with Fisher stands out.
During a segment of the show, Widenhofer used an expletive on air, and during a break, Fisher informed him that he could not say that on air. When they returned to the air, Fisher asked Widenhofer if he had anything to say where the coach apologized to listeners and repeated the expletive in saying he was unaware that he couldn't use that work on air.
To this day it remains one of the funniest moments in Nashville radio history and one that Fisher and all who heard it live will always remember.
UPDATE: According to a report from The Tennessean who spoke with Widenhofer's some, who still lives in Nashville, the former coach "suffered a minor stroke earlier this month. While still in the hospital and preparing to begin rehabilitation Widenhofer suffered a second more severe stroke Saturday night and died on Sunday."
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