By Shannon McEnerney\nshmcener@indiana.edu
Dean of Students Dick McKaig said he remembers a discussion with Terry Hoeppner the spring after he became IU’s 26th football coach, in which Hoeppner talked to students at the Whittenberger Auditorium about the future of the IU football program. \n“His whole body was animated,” McKaig said. “There was excitement in his face. It was just a wonderful moment and clearly an indication of a man who was going to make a difference ... and he really did.”\nHoeppner died Tuesday morning at 6:50 a.m., leaving behind a legacy of two words commonly attributed to him by those who knew him: enthusiasm and passion.\n“This is a very sad day for all of us in the IU family,” outgoing IU President Adam Herbert said in a statement. “We have lost a very strong, courageous, dedicated and visionary leader. Coach Hep has done so much for IU in far too short a period of time.” \nSenior Ryne Shadday said he was never really into IU football until Hoeppner came to the program in 2005.\nCoach Hep got him.\n“He got me as a lifelong Hoosier football fan,” Shadday said. “I never thought I would say that when I first came here, but as a lifelong Hoosier fan I have to root for the football team either way. But Hep made it better, and his impact made me want to come back for football games.”\nShadday said he felt something was lost Tuesday, but he does not think Hoeppner’s work for the program is lost, too.\n“He put his spirit into the spirits of the students,” Shadday said. “I was one of the students who he put the spirit into.”\nShadday remembers meeting Hoeppner during one installment of “The Walk,” a pregame tradition Hoeppner began upon coming to IU where the team would walk across 17th Street to Assembly Hall, then turn and walk into Memorial Stadium. \n“I don’t think the man ever met a stranger,” Shadday said. “He asked how I was. I never met the man before and here he was asking these personal questions and taking an interest in what I was saying. That’s the kind of guy he was. I will miss the way he touched so many people.” \nBecause of Hoeppner, Shadday bought a flag that he waved during football games. \n“I bought it for him. That’s Coach Hep’s flag,” said Shadday, who plans on giving away the flag to Hoeppner’s wife, Jane. \n“I can always buy a new flag, but that flag was because of him and I feel like it should be in that position for a long time.” \nSenior Abbey Albright, secretary of the Student Athletic Board, worked with the football program during her sophomore year. While she said she did not know Hoeppner personally, she went to his radio shows every Monday night. \n“Working with the athletic department, it was like losing a family member,” she said. “He will be remembered for the love of the game and the traditions he started to make the IU football program a family.”\nAlumnus Brian Pace, who graduated in 2005, the same year Hoeppner came to IU to coach, recalled the sessions Hoeppner would use to recruit students and encourage them to attend games in the coming fall.\n“I went to every seminar speech that he had,” Pace said. “Usually when you leave high school you don’t go back to see football games. After college, I didn’t think I would either, but after meeting Coach Hep, I attended every home game since then. ... That’s the impact he’s had on me.”\nPace was looking forward to the upcoming season, and even with Hoeppner’s passing, he doesn’t think the current students or players will have it any other way when it comes to continuing Hoeppner’s passion and goals for the football program.\n“It’s something he instilled in the players and the fans,” Pace said. “They will carry on.”\nHoeppner’s enthusiasm and passion for the success of the IU football program carried on to all the other aspects of his life, said Chancellor Ken Gros Louis. Even when he was ill, Hoeppner had vigor and a positive outlook on life. \n“I think the (football) players are never going to forget what Hep’s dream was, to win a championship and to go to a bowl game,” he said. “I think they will play harder than ever, just like Hep’s advice that you never quit.”
