INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana football coach Terry Hoeppner died today in a Bloomington hospital from complications from a brain tumor, a university spokesman said. He was 59.
Hoeppner, who had two brain surgeries in the past 18 months, missed nearly four months on medical leave. He died at 6:50 a.m. at Bloomington Hospital, said J.D. Campbell, sports information director.
Late last week, the school named assistant Bill Lynch to replace him as coach for the 2007 season.
Hoeppner, who went 9-14 in two seasons as Indiana’s coach, had taken three medical leaves since December 2005. He hadn’t been seen publicly since late February.
Hoeppner left the team temporarily three times in 15 months starting in December 2005 when doctors removed a tumor from his right temple a year after athletic director Rick Greenspan hired Hoeppner.
His wife, Jane, said in a statement announcing Lynch’s hiring that her husband was undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatments. He had been hospitalized last week, but was expected to return home Friday.
In September, a CT scan revealed another growth in the same area of Hoeppner’s brain. When doctors operated a second time, Hoeppner left the team — an absence expected to last two weeks that lasted through spring practice, when he wasn’t on the sidelines.
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Indiana football coach Terry Hoeppner dies at 59
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