Rod Carey, NIU Head Coach 2013-present (Indiana 1989-93)

"It's obviously a sad day for NIU football and for Indiana football, where I played for Coach Mallory.  If you judge a man's success by how many lives you've affected, he had a great life, because he affected so many people in a positive way on and off the field.  

"My parents trusted Coach Mallory with me as a boy, and he gave me back to them as a man, and I'll be forever grateful for the lessons I learned playing for him. That was probably his greatest attribute was how he helped individuals grow, forced them to grow, and that's something I carry on in my coaching career."

Joe Novak, NIU Head Coach 1996-2007;
NIU Defensive Coordinator, 1980-83; Indiana Defensive Coordinator, 1984-95

"Bill Mallory was a coach's coach.  Whenever you talked to people and you said you coached for Bill Mallory, everybody, EVERYBODY respected Bill Mallory.  He did things the right way, he was honest, he was caring, he was tough, he was a family man. You talk to any of his players and they have such respect for him to this day.

"I remember, one of the first years we were at Northern, we went and watched the Bears practice. There were three or four Colorado grads on the Bears at the time, who had played for Coach Mallory. We were trying to be inconspicuous, and after practice they came over to him and you could see the respect they had for him, as did the kids at Northern, at Indiana and at Miami.

"He was tough. He pushed you. He made you work. He was a tough, tough guy but you always knew ... he had a heart of gold. He was a softie, really, with a tough crust. Just an ideal coach, a great man to look up to, and he straightened me out a couple times, which I was thankful for.

"Sometimes when I was talking to the teams at Northern [as head coach], I'd hear Bill Mallory come out of my mouth and I said, you know, that's OK.

"He was a guy that if you were the president of the United States or you were the janitor, you got treated the same. From the secretaries, equipment, athletic trainers, you name it, he cared about people, he included people, and I tried to do the same thing.  Everybody was important and he made sure everyone on the team knew that everyone was important.  He always cared and thought about everyone, and appreciated everyone, and everyone felt like a part of his team because of the way he treated them. 

"And he had a great helper in his wife Ellie, they were a great model for young coaches." 

Vince Scott, NIU Kicker (1980-83)

"Obviously he was very influential in my life and in everyone else's [who played for him] life.  He was a second father to all of us.  I personally became very close to him and his family, I lived in Bloomington for 13 years and one of the reasons I was there was because of Coach Mallory.  Whether in business or personally, he's been a mentor for me.  A day doesn't go by where I don't think of him, and when the tough questions or big decisions come up, I ask myself, what would Coach Mallory do. He always made the right decision.  He touched the lives of so many – I tried to come up with a number and it has to be in the thousands – he had such an impact and made us better people and it had nothing to do with football. The best decision of my life was to play football for Bill Mallory."
 

Bill Baker, NIU Radio Announcer (1980-present)

"The coach in Bill Mallory never left him.  He and I began at NIU the same year in 1980 … I couldn't have had a better [head coach] to deal with in my first year as a Division I broadcaster. He taught me how Division I football works. He and [then defensive coordinator] Joe Novak were the absolute best.

"I learned from him and watched how he handled his team and how he spoke with his team… he had a way that people picked up on exactly what he wanted them to do.  He took a very nice team that he inherited in 1980 and he built the program and took us to the California Bowl and he was one of the biggest reasons why.

"I've met very few people in my 38 years as a broadcaster, coaching wise, that can emulate the kind of a guy Bill Mallory was."

Sean T. Frazier, NIU Associate Vice-President and Director of Athletics (current)

"Coach Mal was iconic.  People knew what he stood for in the coaching profession.  The legacy he left speaks volumes to who he was as a man and as a leader.  You're talking about someone who made a mark, he did it his way, he inspired.  His connection to NIU, his willingness to be around program and our student-athletes and his mentorship of [current NIU head coach] Rod Carey made him a fixture within our program, even all these years after he left.  He welcomed me and [my wife] Rosa, and we've had a chance to get to know him and [his wife] Ellie at many of our events. Our deepest respect and condolences go to the Mallory Family.  His legacy at NIU will never be forgotten and we are better people for having known him."