Ted Kearly (Courtesy CardPlayer.com)

HOUGHTON — Michigan Tech’s former athletic director and head football coach Ted Kearly passed away Sunday at the age of 93 in Las Vegas.

He spent more than 30 years working at the Houghton-based university, including as an assistant and then head football coach, athletic director and faculty member in the Physical Education Department, retiring in 1999.

Kearly was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Michigan Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1997, also being honored with a Distinguished Service Award from the Huskies’ two major sports conferences, the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

And he received an MTU Honorary Alumni Award in 2021 for his commitment to the university. He was a longtime member of the Huskies Club and was recognized for his lifetime giving as a member of the Dillman Society.

In a twist probably not originally known by many in the community, he used his post-retirement interest in poker to benefit the Huskies’ football program in a major way.

Using winnings from smaller tournaments, in 2007 at the age of 75 he decided to enter a major tournament of the World Poker Tour in Las Vegas, where tables with the final six players are televised.

In a field of 664 under the TV lights, he finished as runner-up and won about $1.25 million in the Doyle Brunson Classic, donating a major part of it to the Tech athletic department.

Well before that, Kearly came to Houghton in 1967 as the football team’s offensive coordinator, moving up to head coach two years later. In his four years as head coach, he compiled a 29-7 record, a winning percentage of .806 that no other Tech football coach before or since has come close to.

In his four years, the Huskies won three Northern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles, including a perfect 6-0 NIAC mark in his final year, 1972.

After he stepped down as coach, he took on the role as MTU athletic director for 17 years, which included helping to inaugurate the start of women’s athletics into the program, founding the Michigan Tech Sports Hall of Fame and guiding Tech’s transition into the GLIAC and CCHA and back to the WCHA.

He also was instrumental in helping to save the Huskies’ football program after its budget was cut by 76% in 1980.

After his retirement as AD, Kearly continued as a faculty member in the Physical Education Department for another decade.

In 2019, the university renamed its football facility as Sherman Field at Kearly Stadium because of the contributions of he and his son, Tom Kearly, who compiled an 11-year record of 70-44 as Huskies’ football head coach from 2006-16.

“I take great pride in not having missed a home Tech football game in 51 seasons,” Kearly told the Michigan Tech Alumni Association for an online story at the time of the stadium dedication in 2019. “To have been a part of the program — as an assistant coach, head coach, athletic director, father or fan — has been a great joy in my life.”

Kearly’s monetary contributions from poker helped provide artificial turf at Sherman Field and led to significant renovations of the football facility, while Ted Kearly also volunteered in fundraising efforts for the Champions Pavilion.

The Huskies’ football team annually presents the Ted Kearly Award to a player who exhibits passion, pride and integrity on and off the field.

Kearly played football and baseball at downstate Alpena High School and at Michigan State University, winning the Biggie Munn Baseball Award while playing for MSU.

His wife, Helen, died in January 2024 at the age of 91 after the couple had been married for 73 years. They had four children, Tom, Tim, Tyler and Tammy, and a number of grandchildren.