Veteran football coach Frank Gansz Jr. passes away at 64

Long-time football coach Frank Gansz Jr., who worked in the NFL, college ranks and spring leagues, died at age 64, with no cause disclosed.

Frank Gansz Jr., a 64-year-old football coach whose résumé covered the NFL, college football, the Canadian Football League and multiple spring leagues, has died. He most recently served as the special-teams coordinator for the St. Louis Battlehawks of the United Football League, a fact announced by the team and the league without specifying a cause of death. Gansz began his coaching path after playing defensive back at The Citadel, moving through graduate work at Kansas and positions at Pittsburgh and Army before joining the World League’s New York/New Jersey Knights in 1992.

He later coached tight ends and special teams at Houston, contributed to a Conference USA title in 1996, and spent NFL stints with the Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs—where his units led the league in return averages in 2003—and the Baltimore Ravens. Subsequent roles included stops at UCLA, SMU, work with the NFL Players Association, a 2018 tenure with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and coaching positions in the XFL and USFL before rejoining the Battlehawks.

His father, Frank Gansz Sr., also coached in the NFL and died in 2009. Former colleague Darrin Chiaverini posted a tribute, noting Gansz’s lessons beyond football.