The longtime former head coach of the Chicago Bears has died.
Mike Ditka was 86 years old.
His family announced his death Friday. The Athletic said he died at home on Friday with his wife by his side.
“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Mike Ditka,” they said in a statement, according to ESPN. “While the world knew Mike as a Hall of Fame football player, legendary coach, and leader of the Chicago Bears’ Super Bowl XX championship team, we knew him as the heart of our family.
“Mike will be missed beyond measure and remembered forever.”
Ditka was not only a coach but also a player. He was the Rookie of the Year for the Chicago Bears after the team drafted him fifth overall in 1961. He was the first tight end to surpass 1,000 receiving yards.
In addition to playing for the Bears for six years, he spent two years with the Philadelphia Eagles and four with the Dallas Cowboys. While with the Bears, he was a part of the 1963 NFL championship team and then played for the Cowboys when they won Super Bowl VI, ESPN said.
He made his mark on the field as a player, as USA Today illustrated:
- Two-time NFL champion
- Two-time First-Team All-Pro
- Three-time Second-Team All-Pro
- Five-time Pro Bowler
- NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team
- NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team
- First tight end in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (1988)
The Bears retired his No. 89 in 2013, the 14th person to have their number retired by the team.
He retired as a player in 1972 and became an assistant coach under Tom Landry with the Cowboys. He stayed there for nine seasons, but wrote to Bears owner George Halas, telling him he wanted to get back to the Windy City as head coach.
Ditka got his wish when the Bears hired him in 1982. He was there for 11 seasons, including the iconic 1985 Super Bowl XX championship, when the Bears beat the New England Patriots 46-10.
USA Today said the team had “arguably the best defense of all time” and an offense that featured future Hall of Famer Walter Payton.
He was there for 11 seasons, including the iconic 1985 Super Bowl XX championship, when the Bears beat the New England Patriots 46-10.
Ditka left the Bears with a 106-62 record and a winning percentage of .631, fifth in franchise history. He then went to the New Orleans Saints for three seasons, where he went 15-33 and had a .313 winning percentage, USA Today reported.
Before he got his start, he was the son of a Marine sergeant, steelworker and labor leader from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, in Pittsburgh. He was one of four children.
Speaking of his father, Ditka said, “He was proud to come home dirty, sooty with burned clothes. And he did it every day. He brought home enough to put food on the table for four kids. It was working-class American life, and it’s what made this country great.”
The Athletic said Ditka wasn’t like other children growing up; he had a “brashness” and loved a challenge.
“One-on-one. You and me. Let’s see who’s tougher. I lived for competition. Every game was a personal affront. Everything in my life was based on beating the other guy,” he said.
While a tough guy, even beating up his younger brother after he dropped a fly ball in a Little League game, Ditka was also an altar boy. His mother wanted him to be a priest, a vocation that the future coach considered, The Athletic said.
He went to the University of Pittsburgh, not to be a priest, but to become a dentist, but sports was his calling. The Athletic said he was an interfraternity wrestler who went undefeated, a sixth man on the varsity basketball team and a starter for the baseball team. But it was at Pitt Football where he excelled, playing three ways: linebacker, receiver, and punter. He was sixth in voting for the Heisman Trophy in 1960. ESPN.
After retiring from the game, he also became a restaurateur, did advertisements, was an NFL analyst and game-day, and was an advocate for medical and retirement benefits for football players, The Associated Press reported.
©2026 Cox Media Group
