Super Steelers defensive coach George Perles dies at 85

The coordinator for one of the greatest defenses in NFL history, George Perles, died Tuesday.

Perles was 85 and living in East Lansing, Mich., when he died from complications of Parkinson’s Disease.

Perles served on Chuck Noll’s Pittsburgh Steelers staff for 11 years, the greatest decadelong span in team history. Perles spent six seasons as defensive line coach, one as defensive coordinator and four with the title of assistant head coach. During those 11 seasons, the Steelers won four Super Bowl titles and ranked among the top 10 in scoring defense or total defense (or both) eight times.

A native of Detroit, Perles was coach at Michigan State for 12 seasons, including a Big Ten title and Rose Bowl win after the 1987 season. He later spent 12 years on the university’s board of trustees.

According to a release from his daughter-in-law, Tracey Taylor Perles, two of Perles’ four children live in Western Pennsylvania (Terry in Pittsburgh, and Kathy in Washington). Perles also leaves behind a wife of 61 years, Sally, and six grandchildren.

“George touched so many lives. He helped so many people. He was fiercely loyal and never forgot where he came from,” said Brian Mosallam, a former Michigan State football player on the Board of Trustees. “We lost a giant.”

Michigan State hired Perles in 1983 to revive its beleaguered football program. He did just that, winning Big Ten titles in ’87 and ’90 and coaching the school in seven bowl games. He helped the Spartans beat Southern Cal, 20-17, on Jan. 1, 1988, for their first Rose Bowl win in three-plus decades.

Perles was an assistant coach for the Spartans before he was hired away in 1972 to coach the Steelers defensive line. The Philadelphia Stars of the USFL signed him in 1982, but he got out of his contract to return to Michigan State.

The Green Bay Packers tried to lure Perles to the NFL shortly after his Rose Bowl victory, and the New York Jets tried two years later. Both times, Perles leveraged the opportunities to get what he wanted at Michigan State.

He signed a 10-year contract after passing on the chance to lead the Packers. Just before he was going to be introduced as the Jets coach in 1990, he was given the title of athletic director despite objections from John DiBiaggio, the university president.

Perles was forced to give up his job as athletic director in 1992. He was fired as coach late in the 1994 season, and the team finished 5-6 that year. After an outside investigation, Peter McPherson, then the school president, said the Spartans would forfeit their games because of an academic scandal. The NCAA cleared Perles.

“I would never have stayed at Michigan State if I knew there could be so much conflict about it, or that my staying could somehow hurt the school,” he said in his book, “George Perles: The Ride of a Lifetime,” published in 1995. “I would have taken the job with Green Bay (in 1988) or with the Jets (in 1990) if I had known what was coming.”

He stayed in Michigan for the rest of his life and helped create the Motor City Bowl, using his charm to get the three major automakers to team up to sponsor the postseason college football game for his native Detroit.

Details of Perles’ funeral are pending.

Hey, Steelers Nation, get the latest news about the Pittsburgh Steelers here.