Murray Warmath Murray Warmath ( December 26 , 1912 – March 16 , 2011 ) was an American football player and coach . He served as the head football coach at Mississippi State University from 1952 to 1953 and at the University of Minnesota from 1954 to 1971 , compiling a career college football record of 97 – 84 – 10 . In 1960 , Warmath led the Minnesota Golden Gophers to a share of the Big Ten Conference title , an appearance in the Rose Bowl , and a national championship , the most program ' s most recent to date . The following season , Minnesota placed second in the Big Ten Conference and returned to the Rose Bowl . Warmath ' s 1967 squad captured a share of a second Big Ten championship . Playing and coaching career . Warmath played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers under legendary coach Robert Neyland . After graduation from college , Warmath was the line coach for one season and end coach for three seasons at Tennessee before entering military service during World War II . After the service , he was named head line coach at Tennessee , and then served in the same capacity at the United States Military Academy under Red Blaik ; Vince Lombardi was the backfield coach at Army during those years . Warmath then spent two seasons ( 1952 – 1953 ) as head coach at Mississippi State University before being fired at the end of the 1953 season . After coming to Minnesota , Warmath had immediate success , leading the Gophers to a 7 – 2 record in his first season and a 6 – 1 – 2 record in 1956 . However , Warmath came under fire after three straight losing seasons in which the Gophers finished a combined 6 – 20 , including the 1958 campaign in which the Gophers won only one game and the 1959 campaign in which the Gophers finished last in the Big Ten and won two games . Despite fans throwing garbage on his lawn and talk from Gopher boosters that the University should buy out the last two years of his contract , Warmath would survive the storm and the following season the Gophers won the Big Ten title , with an 8 – 1 record , and were declared national champions . While at Minnesota , Warmath became one of the most successful coaches in Gophers ' history , leading the team to two Big Ten titles and two Rose Bowls . Warmath is the last Gophers coach to win a national championship , a Big Ten title , or a Rose Bowl and he had the second longest tenure at the school ( 18 yrs ) behind only Henry L . Williams . While coach , Warmath became known as a catalyst for social change , as he was one of the first major college coaches to take multiple black athletes in a single recruiting class . Quarterback Sandy Stephens , who was installed as the starting quarterback as a sophomore in 1959 , was the first black All American quarterback . With the national exposure of his bowl appearances , Warmath was able to recruit other top black athletes including future NFL stars Bobby Bell , Carl Eller , and Aaron Brown . Following the 1971 season , Cal Stoll was hired as coach of the Gophers and Warmath was made an assistant to the athletic director . Warmath stayed in that role until 1978 when he took a job with the Minnesota Vikings as an assistant coach , a position he held for two seasons before becoming a regional scout for the team . In 18 seasons at Minnesota , Warmath ' s teams amassed an 87 – 78 – 7 ( . 526 ) record and won eight games in a season three times . He compiled a career record of 97 – 84 – 10 . Later life . In 1992 , Warmath worked with author Mike Wilkinson to publish a biography entitled " The Autumn Warrior " in which he recounts his 65 - year association with football . Warmath remained in Minnesota after he retired from coaching and made public appearances well into his 90s and gave extended an interview as recently as 2007 . The Gophers locker room at Minnesota ' s TCF Bank Stadium , which opened in 2009 , is named after Warmath . Warmath died on March 16 , 2011 at the retirement community in Bloomington , Minnesota where he resided . Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton declared March 21 , 2011 , the date of his funeral at St . Stephen ' s Episcopal Church in Edina , Minnesota , " Murray Warmath Day " .