The Michigan football family is mourning one of its own as former head coach, and long-time assistant under Bo Schembechler, Gary Moeller died on Monday, he was 81 years old.

The Wolverines football program confirmed the news via a press release.

Playing linebacker under legendary Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes, Moeller embraced the full sense of being a 'Michigan Man' as he would coach alongside Schembechler for nearly 20 years as a Michigan Wolverine.

Moeller got his coaching start with Schembechler at Miami of Ohio before following him to Ann Arbor in 1969.

In 1977, Moeller would depart the U-M program to become the head coach of Illinois before returning to Ann Arbor for the 1981 season.

During his time as an assistant, Moeller would have a variety of roles including defensive end coach, defensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.

Upon Schembechler's retirement in 1990, Moeller would take over as the head coach of the Wolverines for five seasons where he went 44-13-3, including winning or sharing Big Ten titles during the 1990, 1991 and 1992 seasons.

After his tenure at U-M, Moeller would move on to the NFL ranks where he spent time as the Cincinnati Bengals' tight end coach for two seasons. He would later return to the state of Michigan to be the Detroit Lions' associate head coach and linebackers coach.

He would take over the head coach position for the Lions after Bobby Ross' sudden resignation and would take over full-time for the franchise in 2000.

Moeller would go on to have short stints with the Jacksonville Jaguars as defensive coordinator in 2001 and would finish his coaching career with the Chicago Bears as its linebacker coach from 2002-2003.

Even after his departure from Ann Arbor, he remained close to the Wolverines' football program and would often be seen at various athletic events.