John Pont, who guided Indiana to its only Rose Bowl appearance 40 years ago and also coached at Northwestern, Yale and Miami of Ohio, has died. He was 80.
Officials at Miami said Pont died Tuesday at his home in Oxford, Ohio. Pont had been fighting cancer.
Pont coached the Hoosiers from 1965 to 1972. In 1967, Indiana was 9-2 and represented the Big Ten Conference in the Rose Bowl, where the Hoosiers lost to Southern California.
Pont spent 13 years at Miami as a player, assistant coach and head coach. He was the Redhawks' first player to have his number retired.
Pont brought his coaching career to Japan when he was hired as head coach of Gakusei Engokai Rocbull in 1992, one year after the Rocbull was established as an industrial league team.
Pont guided the Rocbull to X League Division II championships in the 1997 and 1999 before his club won promotion to Division I in 2000. In the top league, the Rocbull went 4-13-1 under Pont, who resigned after the 2003 season.