Dana Coin
{{Short description|American football player and coach (born 1949)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox college football player
| name = Dana Coin
| image =
| image_size =
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| school = Michigan Wolverines
| currentnumber = 36
| currentposition = Linebacker, placekicker
| class =
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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1949|12|10}}
| birth_place =
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 1
| weight_lb = 229
| highlights =
- Set NCAA record 55 consecutive extra points
- 1972 Rose Bowl
| highschool = Pontiac Northern (MI)
| pastschools =
- University of Michigan (1969–1971)
| bowlgames =
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| espn =
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}}
Dana S. Coin (born December 10, 1949) is a former American football player and coach. He played as a linebacker and placekicker for the Michigan Wolverines football team from 1969 to 1971. He set a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) record in 1971 by successfully converting 55 of 55 extra point attempts. He also extended the Michigan school record for the longest field goal in 1970 and kicked a game-winning field goal in November 1971 that clinched a Big Ten Conference championship for the Wolverines. He later served as the defensive coordinator at Eastern Michigan University.
University of Michigan
Coin enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1968 and played for the school's all-freshman team that fall. He was a member of the Michigan Wolverines football team from 1969 to 1971.{{cite web|title=University of Michigan Football Rosters|publisher=Bentley Historical Library|accessdate=May 15, 2016|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/rosters/football.php}}(enter "coin" in the box for "last name" to retrieve Coin's career roster information) Coin played for Michigan at a time when the school's head coach, Bo Schembechler, held the view that there would be no kicking specialists on his team and that a kicker had to be a football player first. Accordingly, and although his greatest talent lay in his kicking, he also played at the linebacker position.{{cite book|title=Michigan: Where Have You Gone?|author=Jim Cnockaert|publisher=Sports Publishing LLC|year=2004|pages=[https://archive.org/details/michiganwherehav0000cnoc/page/32 32–35]|isbn=1582617716|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/michiganwherehav0000cnoc/page/32}}
As a freshman in 1968, Coin played on Michigan's freshman football team. As a sophomore in 1969, he was a backup linebacker and handled kickoffs for the Wolverines. As a junior in 1970, he began the season handling kickoffs and field goal attempts and took over responsibility for extra points in the middle of the season. On September 19, 1970, he kicked a 42-yard field goal that was, at the time, the longest field goal in Michigan football history.{{cite news|title=U-M Wins: Wolverines Slip Past Arizona, 20–9|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|author=Curt Sylvester|date=September 20, 1971|page=1C|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5277851/um_wins_wolverines_slip_past_arizona/|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} Coin's 42-yard field goal broke a school record of 40 yards set in 1961 by Doug Bickle, and not surpassed until a 50-yard kick by Mike Lantry in 1973.{{cite book|title=Michigan: Champions of the West|author=Bruce Madej|author2=Rob Toonkel|author3=Mike Pearson|author4=Greg Kinney|publisher=Sports Publishing LLC|year=1997|isbn=1571671153|page=186}}
As a senior in 1971, Coin set an NCAA record by successfully converting 55 of 55 extra points without a miss. He was also the team's leading scorer with 79 points.{{cite news|title=U-M Sniffs Roses . . . Blasts Iowa, 63–7|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|author=Curt Sylvester|date=November 7, 1971|pages=1D, 6D|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5245202/um_sniffs_roses__blasts_iowa_637/|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}{{cite news|title=Dowagiac Hires Dana Coin|newspaper=The News-Palladium|date=August 2, 1972|page=38|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5249800/dowagiac_hires_dana_coin/|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} He kicked a career-high nine extra points against Iowa on November 6, 1971, surpassing the prior season record of 50 extra points set by Al Limahelu of San Diego State. Coin's 55 extra points in 1971 remains a Michigan single-season record.
Coin also started two games at outside linebacker in 1971.{{cite web|title=1971 Football Team|publisher=University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library|accessdate=May 15, 2016|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/1971fbt.htm}} Over the course of his career at Michigan, Coin totaled 54 tackles and a fumble recovery. He also successfully converted 70 of 72 extra points and 13 of 27 field goal attempts. On November 13, 1971, Coin preserved Michigan's undefeated record and clinched a Big Ten Conference championship for the school when he kicked two field goals against Purdue, including the game-winning field goal with 46 seconds left in the game.{{cite news|title=M Wins Title, Bowl Trip: Purdue Puts Up Strong Battle, 20–17|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|author=Curt Sylvester|date=November 14, 1971|pages=1D, 7D|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5245607/m_wins_title_bowl_trip/|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} His final game in a Michigan uniform was the 1972 Rose Bowl. Coin kicked a 30-yard field goal and an extra point in the Rose Bowl, but Michigan lost to Stanford, 13–12.{{cite news|title=Stanford Jolts Michigan, 13–12|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|author=Curt Sylvester|pages=1C, 5C|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5247877/stanford_jolt_um_1312/|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}
Later years
In August 1972, Coin was hired as an assistant football coach at a high school in Dowagiac, Michigan. He played for the Flint Sabres of the Midwest Football League in 1973.{{cite news |title=Behrman, Coin, Olson Play Against Hawks Saturday |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75643413/the-news-palladium/ |newspaper=The News-Palladium |via=Newspapers.com |date=July 27, 1973 |access-date=April 12, 2021}} He also became a graduate assistant for the Michigan Wolverines football team later that year.{{cite news|title=Mans Stressing 'D' at EMU|newspaper=The Hillsdale Daily News|date=September 19, 1974|page=12|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5279135/mans_stressing_d_at_emu/}} In 1974, he became the defensive coordinator of the Eastern Michigan University Hurons football team and held that position for two-and-a-half years.{{cite news|title=EMU Adds 2 Football Assistants|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=March 23, 1975|page=2E|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5279140/emu_adds_2_football_assistants/}}{{cite news|title=Mans Resigns As EMU Coach|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=May 19, 1976|page=3D|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5279143/mans_resigns_as_emu_coach/}}
After retiring from football, Coin worked as a manufacturer's representative. He later went into the automotive electronics business. He has been married three times and has four children and two stepchildren. As of 2004, he was living in Clarkston, Michigan.
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coin, Dana}}
Category:Michigan Wolverines football players
Category:American football linebackers
Category:American football placekickers
Category:Eastern Michigan Eagles football coaches
Category:Sportspeople from Clarkston, Michigan
Category:Players of American football from Oakland County, Michigan