Michael E. Merola, captain of the 1950 Georgia football team, passed away Monday following a long illness.

A native of Newark, N.J., Merola enrolled at Georgia along with a friend when we was discharged from military service following World War II. Due to an overflow situation in Athens, he was sent to an off campus site in Savannah where a physical education teacher, Wendell Wilson, saw Merola a two-time All-City performer at Barringer High School excel in a touch football game.

Wilson then arranged for Merola to transfer to Athens where former assistant coach Howell Hollis, who was then business manager for UGA Athletics, saw Merola playing in another pickup game in UGA’s Reed Quad. Hollis invited Merola to come out for spring practice, which led to a scholarship offer within a week.

Merola was a member of UGA’s 1948 SEC Championship team that finished the season ranked No. 8 by the Associated Press. He became a starter at defensive end in 1949, was voted captain of Georgia’s 1950 team and also played in the Presidential Cup and Senior Bowls.

Merola became the head football coach at Sandersville (Ga.) High School immediately after graduation from UGA and later worked in education in his home state of New Jersey until retirement. He and his late wife, Virginia, a native of Deepstep, Ga., retired in Athens. She passed away in 2007.

Merola was the son of the late Salvatore and Maria Sisto Merola, who emigrated to the United States from Italy and raised seven children.

- Georgia Sports Communications