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Tuesday, May 21, 2024 | Football
by Vincent Briedis, BGSU Strategic Communications
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – BGSU alumnus Dean Pees, one of only eight defensive coordinators in National Football League history to coach in a Super Bowl with two different teams, was announced today as the featured dinner speaker at this year's Gridiron Classic. The Gridiron Classic, scheduled for Monday, June 17 at Toledo Country Club, is an annual golf and dinner event with all proceeds going to support the BGSU Football program.
The
15th annual Gridiron Classic golf field has a very limited amount of
foursomes still available, but dinner guests for the evening are encouraged
to register online HERE for an elegant
outdoor dinner overlooking the Maumee River after the golf outing. A Coaches
Social and Silent auction in the River Room at the Toledo Country Club starts
at 5:30 pm on the June 17, followed by dinner and a program with emcee, and
fellow BGSU alumnus Jerry Anderson, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Pees
graduated from Bowling Green State University in 1972, then became an English
teacher and the head football coach at Elmwood High School. Six years later, he became the defensive
coordinator at the University of Findlay where he helped the team win a
national title and two conference championships. He spent a 25 seasons
as a college football coach, including stops as an assistant at Miami (OH), the
U.S. Naval Academy, Toledo, Notre Dame and Michigan State.
Pees was the head coach at Kent State
from 1998 to 2003. As a college coach, Pees' teams won two Mid-American
Conference championships at Miami (OH) and Toledo and reached bowl games in
four consecutive seasons — three times at Michigan State and once at Notre Dame.
In
2004, he became linebackers coach and then defensive coordinator for the New
England Patriots. In 2010, he was hired as the Ravens linebackers coach before
taking over as defensive coordinator. While in the NFL, he was a part of seven divisional
championships, three AFC championships and three Super Bowls — 2004 and 2007
with the Patriots and 2013 with the Ravens.
Contact
Nathan Anderson at nander@bgsu.edu or 419-372-9446 with
questions about golf or dinner at the Gridiron Classic, or register for both online HERE.
