University of North Carolina Athletics
Gary Tranquill Named Offensive Coordinator
January 12, 2001 | Football
Jan. 12, 2001
Chapel Hill, N.C. ----- Gary Tranquill, who has 38 years of college and professional coaching experience, has been named North Carolina's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, head coach John Bunting announced on Friday. Tranquill has spent the last two seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Virginia.
"He has one of the finest offensive minds I've ever been exposed to," said Bunting. "He has a great grasp of every facet of offense from the offensive line to the wide receivers to the running backs and quarterbacks. He is a tremendous teacher and he has the energy and desire to work in our program and develop our offensive players to their highest level."
"I'm very excited about working at North Carolina and with John Bunting," said Tranquill. "I am impressed with John and the staff he has built. I know a lot about the ACC and I look forward to helping North Carolina win football games."
Tranquill has a diverse coaching background that includes 11 years of experience as an offensive coordinator at five different schools, three years as a defensive coordinator and five years as a Division I head coach. He has worked with some of the top quarterbacks in the Atlantic Coast Conference during two stints at Virginia, including All-ACC selections Scott Secules, Shawn Moore and Matt Blundin. In addition, he was the Cleveland Browns quarterbacks coach from 1991-93, where he worked with NFL standouts Bernie Kosar and Vinnie Testaverde.
Tranquill was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Nick Saban's Michigan State Spartans from 1995-98. During those four seasons, Michigan State averaged 161.5 yards rushing, 220.9 yards passing and 27.6 points per game. The Spartans averaged nearly 30 points per game each of the last three seasons of Tranquill's tenure - it's top scoring averages of the decade.
As Virginia's quarterbacks coach from 1987-90, Tranquill helped develop some of the best passers in conference history. Secules led the conference in passing as a senior in 1987, while Moore became the school's all-time leader in passing yards, finished fourth in the 1990 Heisman Trophy balloting, was a first-team All-America and the 1990 ACC Player of the Year. Tranquill helped coach the Cavaliers to a No. 1 ranking during the 1990 season - Virginia's highest ever ranking.
Tranquill left Virginia for a three-year stint with the Cleveland Browns, then returned to college as Virginia Tech's offensive coordinator in 1994 before leaving for Michigan State in 1995.
A native of Avella, Pa., Tranquill began his coaching career at Wittenberg, his alma mater, where he coached from 1963-69. He was Ball State's secondary coach in 1970 before becoming the defensive coordinator for two seasons at Bowling Green State. In 1973, he served three years under George Welsh as Navy's quarterbacks and receivers coach. He would later return to Navy as Welsh's successor in 1982 as the head coach.
Tranquill also spent two years as an assistant coach at Ohio State (1977-78) under legendary coach Woody Hayes and was an assistant at West Virginia from 1979-81. At West Virginia, he spent one season as the defensive coordinator and two years as the offensive coordinator.
Tranquill, 60, is a 1962 graduate of Wittenberg, where he won four letters in football and baseball. He played on two Ohio Conference baseball championship teams and two NCAA regional winners in that sport. In 1960, he was the conference's top football player. He was inducted into Wittenberg's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986.
Tranquill is married to the former Shirley Anderson of Milwaukee, Wis., and the couple has a daughter, Kari, and a son, Christopher.
The Tranquill File
School, Years Position
Wittenberg, 1963-64 Graduate Assistant
Wittenberg, 1965-69 Assistant Coach
all State, 1970 Secondary Coach
owling Green State, 1971-72 Defensive Coordinator
U.S. Naval Academy, 1973-76 Quarterbacks & Receivers Coach
Ohio State, 1977-78 Secondary Coach
West Virginia, 1979-81 Defensive Coordinator (1979),
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks &
Receivers (1980-81)
U.S. Naval Academy, 1982-86 Head Coach
Virginia, 1987-90 Quarterbacks Coach
Cleveland Browns, 1991-93 Quarterbacks Coach
Virginia Tech, 1994 Offensive Coordinator
Michigan State, 1995-98 Offensive Coordinator
Virginia, 1999-2000 Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks &
Receivers
North Carolina, 2001-present Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach
