DaytonDailyNews.com

John Pont's July 1 death meant the loss of a staple to the Oxford community, an inspiration to his family and a Miami University legend.

"He was the type of individual that gave back to this community, anyone he touched felt that. More importantly, anyone that knew him knew why he was so important, he was a symbol of this community," said Dave Young, the former MU sports information director. "He chose to live in Oxford in his retirement, that's the ultimate tribute for someone who's been everywhere."

Pont's career spanned five decades and two continents, but his best days were at Miami, where he became the first athlete to have his football jersey number (42) retired, and at Indiana University, where he was named national coach of the year in 1967 for leading the Hoosiers to the Rose Bowl.

He guided Miami to two MAC championships, and in 1962 his team played in the Tangerine Bowl.

Pont coached three seasons at Yale (1963-64), eight at Indiana (1965-72) and five at Northwestern (1973-77).

He also coached three seasons at Hamilton High School (1985-87).

Pont's passing was — to say the least — a loss of an icon not only to the community, but also his family. Pont's grandson, who is the third John Pont and one of seven of his grandchildren, has endured the loss of a great source of inspiration along with his family.

John Pont III, originally from Newington, Conn., decided to attend Miami to study education and coaching with aspirations to one-day coach as his grandfather did.

"I've always desired to walk in his footsteps and live up to the person he was," Pont III said. "He helped me in any way he could, he was always supportive."

"I'm trying to work my way up the ladder," said Pont III, now a student assistant football coach at Florida State University, as well as head coach of FSU's women's lacrosse team.

"Seeing his name and number on the side of the stadium filled me with a sense of pride. I could always look at his face up on Yager [Stadium] and know I was home," Pont III said.

"He was always the coach, but he was there like a grandfather should be, too," Pont III said. "You could sit and talk with him for hours about anything, it didn't have to be about football; life, college, even girls."

While originally from Canton, the legacy Pont left in Oxford and the overflowing love the community had for him showed how much a single man could inspire.

"From Yale in Connecticut, IU in Bloomington, Cincinnati, Northwestern (...) he even spent time with a football team in Japan for a while, but he chose to stay in Oxford, recently, to coach Talawanda football," said Young. "The man knew where his roots were."