​Kent State University football legend Jim Corrigall has died at the age of 80, KSU announced on Wednesday, July 15. He was 80.”Sad to hear of the passing of @KentStFootball great Jim Corrigall,” Kent State coach Mark Carney tweeted. “[He’s] one of just five players to have his number retired here. Your legacy will not soon be forgotten Coach!”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCorrigall was a star defender for the Golden Flashes (1967-69) and later served as their head coach (1994-97) after a standout playing career with the Toronto Argonauts (1970-81) of the Canadian Football League. He spent the final two of his 12 seasons with the Argonauts as a player-coach.Corrigall was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, the Kent State Varsity K Athletics Hall of Fame, the Mid-American Conference Hall of Fame, the Summit County Sports Hall of Fame and the Barrie Sports Hall of Fame. He was born and raised in Barrie, Ontario.A 1970 Kent State graduate, Corrigall spent time as a football assistant at the University of Akron, North Carolina State, Hiram College and Mount Union as well as Ravenna, St. Vincent-St. Mary and Archbishop Hoban high schools, among other coaching stops.More Kent State football: Inside KSU hiring Josh Cribbs as an assistant coachFormer Kent State University player and coach Jim Corrigall works with St.Vincent-St. Mary football players during their summer conditioning program on Tuesday, June 25, 2019 in Akron, Ohio.Corrigall and his wife, Marybeth, raised two children, Jim and Amy.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn 2019, Corrigall and his daughter, Amy Corrigall Jones, told the Beacon Journal he learned he likely suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), an incurable degenerative brain disease caused by repeated head trauma.At the time, Corrigall Jones said her father had told medical professionals at the Cleveland Clinic he had been knocked out “multiple times a year” while playing college and professional football. Corrigall had a device implanted for deep brain stimulation (DBS) with the hope of relieving symptoms of suspected CTE.More on Jim Corrigall: Despite head trauma, football has his heartFormer Kent State football coach Jim Corrigall in 2000.A defensive tackle and linebacker at Kent State, Corrigall became the first Golden Flashes player to be voted first-team All-MAC in three consecutive seasons and the first KSU player to named a team captain two years in a row (1968-69). He also earned All-America recognition.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe St. Louis Cardinals picked Corrigall in the second round (No. 33 overall) of the 1970 NFL Draft, but he instead chose to play for the Argonauts in Canada. He was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 1975. In 1997, Toronto placed him on its All-Time Argos list.As Kent State’s head coach, Corrigall went 8-35-1 in four seasons. After he was fired by KSU in 1997, he began volunteering as an assistant coach at Mount Union in 19