Dana Coin

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.^[1] 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.^[2]

As a freshman in 1968, Coin played on Michigan's freshman football team.^[1] As a sophomore in 1969, he was a backup linebacker and handled kickoffs for the Wolverines.^[2] 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.^[2] On September 19, 1970, he kicked a 42-yard field goal that was, at the time, the longest field goal in Michigan football history.^[2][3] 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.^[4]

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.^[5][6] 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.^[5] Coin's 55 extra points in 1971 remains a Michigan single-season record.^[2]

Coin also started two games at outside linebacker in 1971.^[7] 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.^[2][6] 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.^[8] 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.^[9]

In August 1972, Coin was hired as an assistant football coach at a high school in Dowagiac, Michigan.^[6] He played for the Flint Sabres of the Midwest Football League in 1973.^[10] He also became a graduate assistant for the Michigan Wolverines football team later that year.^[2][11] 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.^{[2][11][12][13]}

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.^[2]