George Perles, who coached Michigan State to a Rose Bowl victory in 1988 and was a key defensive assistant for the dominant Pittsburgh Steelers teams of the 1970s, died Tuesday. He was 85.

Perles played football at Michigan State and later was an assistant coach, head coach, athletic director and member of the school's governing body. Michigan State announced Perles' death Wednesday.

“George touched so many lives. He helped so many people. He was fiercely loyal and never forgot where he came from,” said Brian Mosallam, a former Michigan State football player now on the Board of Trustees. “We lost a giant.”

Michigan State hired Perles in 1983 to revive its beleaguered football program. He did just that, winning Big Ten titles in 1987 and 1990 and coaching the school in seven bowl games. He helped the Spartans beat Southern California, 20-17, on Jan. 1, 1988, for their first Rose Bowl win in three-plus decades.

Perles was an assistant coach for the Spartans before he was hired away in 1972 to coach the Steelers' defensive line. He later was defensive coordinator and assistant head coach for a team that won four NFL championships in six years. The Philadelphia Stars of the U.S. Football League signed him in 1982, but he got out of his contract to return to the campus in East Lansing, Michigan.

The Green Bay Packers tried to lure Perles to the NFL shortly after his Rose Bowl victory and the New York Jets tried two years later. Both times Perles leveraged the opportunities to get what he wanted at Michigan State.

He signed a 10-year contract after passing on the chance to lead the Packers. Just before he was going to be introduced as the Jets' coach in 1990, he was given the title of athletic director despite objections from John DiBiaggio, the university president.

Perles was forced to give up the AD job in 1992.