Former Villanova football head coach John ("Jack") Gregory passed away in Philadelphia last week. Visitation will take place on Thursday, December 11 from 6-8 p.m. at the Maris Grove Chapel, 200 Maris Grove Way, Glen Mills, Pa. 19342. A funeral mass will be held on Friday, December 12 at 10 a.m. at St. Cornelius Catholic Church, 160 Ridge Road, Chadds Ford, Pa. 19317. Burial will be at the cemetery of Saints Peter and Paul, Sproul Road, Springfield, Pa.

Gregory, 87, was the head football coach at Villanova from 1967-69. He led the Wildcats to a 16-13 record while helping the program produce several players who went on to play in the NFL, notably Mike Siani, Richie Moore and John Sodowski.

Gregory was born on June 8, 1927 in East Landsdowne, Pa., to Otto J. and Catherine Gregory. He attended Landsdowne High School where he lettered in three sports. He served in the Navy in World War II before returning to Pennsylvania to attend what was then East Stroudsburg State Teachers College. While there, he met his wife, Margaret Ann ("Peggy") Peacock of Dover, Delaware, a West Chester State Teachers College student at the time, when the two spied one another across the long jump pit at a West Chester v. East Stroudsburg track meet.

Gregory started his long and successful career in athletics as a high school teacher and football coach in Delaware. He coached at both William Penn High School and P.S. DuPont High School before joining the college coaching ranks at East Stroudsburg, his alma mater.

Gregory reformed the East Stroudsburg football program and his teams enjoyed a 49-11-2 (a .806 winning percentage) record during his six years there, including two state college championships and one Eastern Division state college championship. The ESU football field was recently named after him in his honor.

From East Stroudsburg, Mr. Gregory served as the Assistant Head Coach under Bill Elias at the United States Naval Academy for a year before returning home to the Philadelphia area as the head football coach at Villanova from 1967 to 1969. The Gregory coached Wildcats produced several players who went on to play in the NFL, including Mike Siani, Richie Moore and John Sodowski.

Gregory was then hired as the head coach by the University of Rhode Island. Mr. Gregory coached the Rams for six years. During his tenure at URI, his Rams played in the "Turkey Bowl" - the first ever college football game in Europe against the United States Air Force European All Stars at the Rhein-Main Air Force base in Germany over Thanksgiving in 1973.

Gregory served as a scout for the Green Bay Packers under Bart Starr for two years before becoming an Associate Athletic Director at Yale University. While at Yale, in an effort to raise revenues for athletics, he helped popularize the "stadium concert". The Yale Bowl hosted concerts featuring the Eagles, the Cars and the Beach Boys in successive years.

From Yale, Gregory went on to twelve very successful years as the Athletic Director at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He pioneered the use of academic advisors in college athletics and his era is considered to be the most successful in the history of the BGSU athletic department. In addition to multiple conference championships in both men's and women's sports, his Falcons won the NCAA Division 1 College Ice Hockey Championship in 1984. The Turf Room in the BGSU Field House was named after him in his honor.

Early in his career, Gregory founded what is now considered to be the first of its kind athletic camp. Although these camps are extremely popular and plentiful today, Gregory was a founder of the Diamond State Athletic Camps, which took place each summer from the mid-1960's to the early 1970's at the Sanford School in Hockessin, Delaware.

Beyond his accomplished career, perhaps the thing which gave Gregory the most pleasure and about which he was very proud, was his involvement in creating the DFRC Blue-Gold All Star Football Game. Working closely with Bob Carpenter, Jr., the then owner of the Philadelphia Phillies, the game was started to support and raise awareness of citizens of Delaware with intellectual disabilities.

Gregory is pre-deceased by his wife of 61 years, Margaret Ann ("Peg") Gregory and is survived by two sons, John and Bruce, their wives, Marlou and Tracy, two grandchildren, Megan and Brian, and a brother, Otto J. Gregory.