In this special edition episode of The Assembly Call, you will hear from five men whose experiences with Bill Mallory span from his early days at Colorado all the way into the 90s at Indiana. They tell their stories, and share the lessons they learned.

You’ll hear from my dad first. It’s the most obvious place for me to start, but his is also one of the most unique perspectives you can find on Coach Mallory’s career -- because my dad was with Coach Mallory for roughly two decades as a player and coach. He’s got plenty of stories, and plenty of lessons, many of which he passed down to me.

Then you’ll hear from Greg Farrall, who played for Coach Mallory at Indiana. He was on the team that trounced Ohio State in 1988. He also once came within inches of tackling Coach Mallory from a full-on sprint -- so worked up from how hard Coach Mallory was riding him at practice one day. It’s a great story.

Next, you’ll hear from Steve Hirsch, who played for Coach Mallory at Northern Illinois. Steve tells the story of the time Coach Mallory actually passed out at halftime, having worked himself up into such a frenzy trying to motivate his team after a lackluster first half.

After that, you’ll hear from two players who played for Coach Mallory at Colorado: Willie Brock and Chuck McCarter. Both men discuss how close those Colorado teams were, and still are, because of Coach Mallory’s leadership.

Willie tells us the story of the time Coach Mallory unapologetically left two star players at the hotel when they didn’t make it to the bus on time. And about the time Coach Mallory went for a nice run with him ... until the final half mile, when things got competitive.

Chuck tells the story of the time Coach Mallory made an example out of him at practice, during a goalline tackling drill -- and why even though he felt like he’d been hit by a car afterwards, it profoundly impacted his own belief in himself.

This is just a sampling of the stories these players tell and the lessons they share. There is so much more -- enough to fill well over two worthwhile hours of airtime.

The memorial service and Celebration of Life for Coach Mallory are being held this Saturday, June 2nd, in Bloomington. The service will be at 10:00 am at First United Methodist Church on 4th Street. Then there will be a Celebration of Life ceremony at Memorial Stadium beginning at 1:30 pm. The event is open to the public, with seating in the East stands. The gates will open at 12:30.

I hope this episode serves as a worthy tribute to a man who made such a large and positive impact on so many people.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.