Warren Powers, who coached Missouri football from 1978-1984, died late Tuesday night, former player Howard Richards announced in a tweet.
The cause of Powers' death is unclear. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2014.
"First want to say thoughts and prayers are with the Warren Powers family," Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz said on the SEC Football Head Coaches Teleconference on Wednesday. "Coach Powers, a former head football coach here passed away last night, and was a big part of our football program, history and heritage, and want to say our thoughts and prayers are with him."
Powers, who was 80, is one of the most successful coaches in MU football history, having led the Tigers to five bowl games, three of which they won. Missouri posted back-to-back 8-4 records in 1980 and 1981, and Powers finished his career 46-33-3.
His first game was a historic one, with the Tigers beating Dan Devine's fifth-ranked Notre Dame team 3-0 on Sept. 9, 1978, in South Bend, Indiana. Joe Montana was at QB for the reigning national champion Fighting Irish.
That same season, behind quarterback Phil Bradley, running back James Wilder and All-American tight end Kellen Winslow, the Tigers beat Nebraska 35-31 in Lincoln and topped LSU 20-15 in the Liberty Bowl. It would be another 25 years before MU would again beat the Cornhuskers.
The 1980 team also played in front of the biggest crowd in MU history, when 75,289 were in attendance at Memorial Stadium for the No. 9 Tigers' 29-21 loss to No. 17 Penn State on Oct. 4.
Powers was involved in an NCAA infractions case against Missouri in 1979 for the school's use of funding to pay debt he accrued while negotiating his hiring for the head coaching position.
He was an all-state high school quarterback in Kansas City and played football at Nebraska. He played for the Oakland Raiders in the American Football League from 1963-1968.
